


How To Train Your Dragon

by JetBlackSunshine



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Magic, Dragons, Gryffindor Ashton Irwin, Gryffindor Calum Hood, Magic, OT4 Friendship, Slytherin Luke Hemmings, Slytherin Michael Clifford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2020-10-11 01:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 68,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20537639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetBlackSunshine/pseuds/JetBlackSunshine
Summary: (5sos Hogwarts AU)Keeping a baby dragon a secret in the halls of Hogwarts isn't easy...In which Ashton and Calum come into the care of a dragons egg whilst keeping it a secret from the rest of Hogwarts and the dark forces that are after it.





	1. An Unexpected Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Onto a new adventure! I've been writing this one for a little while too. It should be about the same length/ a little longer as Waves Are Ours. I'm excited for it and I hope that you will enjoy it too! ^^

Deep down Ashton knew that he shouldn't be out here. The moonlight shone through the trees above him. He moved quickly, unsure as to where his feet were taking him. He knew the risks, but still he couldn't resist. Students weren't supposed to come down to the forbidden forest on their own, especially at night and after hours. However, something was dragging him out here and he was determined to find out what.

He held his wand tightly as it shone out at the tip, powered by his magic. It illuminated the path of leaves before him; unflickering. His spells weren't always the greatest so he hoped that the spell would hold out long enough. He always feared them failing or going wrong. The problems of being a muggle born, he supposed.

_'Ash...' _The voice called again as it had many times today. At first Ashton had thought it to be one of the school's ghosts playing tricks on him, but as the voice had continued during the day all throughout his classes, he started to wonder whether there was more to it than that. Surely a ghost would've become bored by that point.

He crept further and further between the trees, his feet seeming to move on their own. Suddenly a loud whine broke through the air, Ashton froze in place as he looked around him for the source of the noise. He spotted a light further down the path. He could see a large animal like shape up ahead. It looked to be walking backwards, a long tail flicking behind it. He could see the faint glimmer of scales. What was it?

Should he approach it? He frowned, hesitating in place.

He heard a noise, a loud crash that pierced through the night. There was a loud uproar through the trees around him, as a group of bats took off into the sky. Their black silhouettes quickly fading. Ashton shivered pulling his cloak closer to his chest.

He saw the creature ahead of him's head rear up in alarm. It looked almost reptilian. Though with magical creatures sometimes it could be difficult tell what they were compared to those from his own world. It let out a shriek and he saw bursts of light flinging through the air towards it. Ashton wanted to yell, but it came out as a frightened strangled noise as the creature seemed to fall.

Suddenly a bright blue light appeared, and a bird like creature emerged from the trees to his left. He let out a yell and raised his arms as it dived forward, narrowly stopping in front of him.

He could hear the beating of wings and lowered his arms. It flapped its wings right in front of him. It was light blue, almost crystal like. It shone as bright as a star and its wings were almost see through.

He frowned, as he thought back to his classes on magical creatures. This one didn't register to him. A thunderbird perhaps? No, it was the wrong colour and they were usually found in America, not England.

It seemed to be weighing him up though, as it tilted its head from side to side as it flapped its wings back and forth.

_'Follow.' _An unspoken voice commanded.

Only a moment later it took off, it's wings all in a flutter and blindly Ashton chased after it. The creature didn't stop until they had come to a blank patch of grass. A single speckled egg lied there. Ashton looked around noticing the broken shards of shell scattered around it, a strange goo lined each of the pieces. He felt sick to his stomach in realisation.

What had happened here? Ashton backed away slowly, but the bird-like creature began to screech, flapping its wings and flying around the egg as if to remind Ashton why it had led him here. It nudged at the egg, as if trying to push it towards him.

He hesitated. What did it expect him to do? Did it want him to take it? He frowned, it sure seemed that way.

Slowly, he reached forwards, taking the small egg in the palm of his hand. It was slightly warm still. Ashton looked back up at where the creature had been, just in time to see it turn to a mist. Ashton blinked, unsure of what kind of creature it was. He made a mental note to do some research later.

Now Ashton was left with the egg, and no idea what he was supposed to be doing with it. Ashton knew he couldn't leave it here. That bird had clearly led him here for a reason. He'd been part of the wizarding world long enough now to know that it wasn't a coincidence that he had been led here. Uncertainly he put the egg in the pocket of his jacket.

He frowned. Deciding that it was probably best to take it back up to the castle. It would be warmer up there and then he'd be able to decide what to do with it.

Ashton made careful steps out of the forest, the spiring towers of Hogwarts soon coming into view. He walked up the stony path, until he came to the stone rockface. He tapped his wand on the wall, muttered the word _dissendium_ and the stone slid open, revealing the secret track up the stairs into Gryffindor tower.

He grinned. It still delighted him every time he did it. As far as he knew only two people in all of Hogwarts knew about this secret passage and he was proud to be one of them. It was perfect for sneaking in and out the castle with. He was so glad he'd discovered it during first year.

First year at Hogwarts. Ashton let out a sigh as he the memories resurfaced.

Ashton's first year at Hogwarts had been nothing magical.

It was the first time he'd heard the word 'muggle' a term used to describe non magical folk. As it turned out Ashton was a rarity in this world, he'd had no magical parents and had not grown up in the magical world like most of his peers. He was a muggle born and even though he was just as magical as anyone else in the room it was considered by many to be the lowest kind of wizard anyone could be.

He'd been so excited when he'd first received his letter. There had been a knock on the door and a pretty woman dressed all in black with a witch's hat had turned up at their apartment. She'd pulled his mother aside and told her everything and that her son was in fact a wizard and would have a spot at Hogwarts the coming year. Honestly, they'd been shocked but on the 1st of September Ashton had joined all the other first years on the Hogwarts Express. (After they'd worked out how to get onto the platform of course!)

He'd been sorted in Gryffindor house, that had a proud golden lion looking creature as its mascot. He had his wand, his robes and everything felt truly magical. He'd been looking forward to making new friends and learning to use his magic.

Yet all the problems had started when he'd first told his new roommates that first night that he knew nothing of the wizarding world until his letter had arrived. The conversation had stopped and there were all weird questions about muggles. A term back then, he didn't even understand. 

From there the first few weeks had been awful, when he hadn't known basic terms and spells the others would call him squib and mudblood unrelentingly. He'd been at the receiving end of so many jokes and pranks as the students utilized his lack of magic and defensive spells.

So, one particularly bad night he'd found his escape through this very tunnel. Ashton had discovered it one evening during first year when he'd been feeling anxious and frightened. A group of Gryffindors he didn't like had entered the common room and he'd hid behind one of the sofas. He'd been so afraid; they'd cast at least a dozen hexes and spells on him already. There wasn't much more he could take; he was tired of being their literal magical punching bag. His foot had pressed against the wall and he'd noticed the way it shimmered slightly. He didn't know much about magic then, but he knew enough about magic to know it was glamour. He'd snuck in right through it finding a passage that led out into the castle's grounds. It was perfect and he'd been making use of it ever since.

Though thankfully, not all the Gryffindors were bad. There had been one Gryffindor who had stuck up for him when everything had fallen apart. He still did to this very day.

As he reached the end of the secret corridor, he lifted the latch and slipped into the secret compartment. You had a few seconds to get out of there so nobody would see you leave through it. He took a few steps away, as the doorway dissipated behind him.

Ashton looked around the Gryffindor common room, relieved to find it empty. The warmth from the fireplace hit him instantly. He grinned removing his cloak.

Gryffindor banners were hung proudly on the wall listing the years that the house had won the Quidditch cup. The plush red lounges that filled the room were empty. Even the fire that usually burned had already been extinguished for the night. Not lingering any further, he climbed up the stone staircase to the boy's dorms. He took the first door, once he reached the next level, he pulled it open and walked into his room.

The first thing Ashton noticed, was the shape sitting at the window. Calum, his best friend and roommate was sitting at the window with an open textbook in front of him. He'd been the only Gryffindor to stick up for him when all the problems had been going on in first year. They had shared a room with a few of the other guys in their year, but when the problems had gotten worse, they'd asked to be moved out of the room and ended up in this smaller, more pokey one. They'd gotten used to it though, as this was now their fourth year in it.

Unlike him, Calum was a pureblood, his entire family had been wizards. So, he'd taught Ashton everything he knew about the wizarding world. He would eternally be grateful to him for that. He still messed up sometimes, but he was a lot better than when he had started.

Calum's head instantly turned to Ashton as he entered, his face changing to a frown as he looked him over. His eyes paused at the evident lump in Ashton's jacket.

"Geez, Ash, what did you bring back this time?" He asked. Ashton was well known to bring weird and wonderful things back from his trips outside and around the castle. Magical things fascinated him, and Calum could usually tell him what it was.

"You'll see." Ashton grinned, taking a seat on his bed.

"You didn't go into the forest without me, did you?" Calum frowned, before Ashton could even get the item from his pocket. His eyes were gazing over the remnants of grass and mud on Ashton's boots.

"You weren't here." Ashton shrugged, "Besides, I'm fine. I don't know why everyone worries about it so much."

"It practically has the word forbidden in it, Ash. You could get yourself in a lot of trouble." Calum rolled his eyes, "Anyway, you're stalling, what's in your pocket?"

Ashton smiled as he pulled the egg from his pocket and brought it into the light so that Calum could see it. Calum raised his eyebrows as he scanned over the item.

"A dragon's egg? How the hell are we going to take care of that?"

"Is that what it is?" Ashton asked, holding up to the light. It was a lot easier to see it now. The bluish pink speckled surface was rough beneath his fingers.

Calum let out a loud sigh, "You're such a muggle sometimes." He looked at Ashton. "We can't keep that one Ash. It'll get too big." He pointed to the table in the middle of our room, between their two beds where a bright green lizard lie, a cat and an illuminated green frog like creature sat, "We already have a pair of Moke's, a Clabbert and a half Kneazle, none of which we're supposed to have. I mean remember that time that we had that Niffler last year and it kept trying to take all our things. We can't look after anymore. I'm sorry but you're going to have to put it back where you found it."

Ashton looked at them, he was right they already did have a lot of extra creatures to take care of. He wanted to help the bird, but Calum did have a point.

"But I was given it." Ashton says, before he tried to explain to Calum just what had happened with the lights and the bird-like creature. As he spoke Calum didn't look any more convinced.

"I get it, but we'll have like a billion detentions if you keep it or worse get us both expelled. You don't even know the first thing about taking care of a dragon Ash and neither do I. Is it really worth the risk?" Calum spoke when he was done.

Ashton bit his lip, maybe Calum was right. He looked at the egg.

"Fine." Ashton sighed, admitting defeat, "We'll take it back, but you're going to have to help me." 

"Alright." Calum said as he put the textbook, he was reading on the window seat.

The two of them left the room and headed towards the secret passageway. They looked around the common room, being sure that they were the only two people in there.

"Dissendium" Ashton spoke as he tapped his wand against the brick and the door revealed itself. That was usually the easiest way to get it to appear, trying to get it to open like he'd found it was difficult. Calum was the only other Gryffindor that seemed to know about the passage to the outside. They used it all the time whenever they wanted to sneak out the castle particularly after hours, there were a couple of different routes, some leading to other places around the castle. Tonight, they took the passageway outside, letting the lights of their wands lead the way.

As they reached the end of the corridor Ashton pulled out the stone which moved open and allowed them to walk outside, they both shivered a little at the slight drop in temperature. Calum waved his wand muttering a warming charm strong enough for the both.

The forest was dark and empty now. Devoid of life. Ashton's heart plummeted at the thought of having to leave the egg out here. A strong gust of wind blew up, Ashton pulled his jacket closer to his body. He felt in his pocket for the egg and held it out into the cold. He knew he was sending it to its likely doom.

"Now just leave the egg right there, and then we'll -" Calum froze as an air of mist formed in front of them. The two of them took a step backwards. Ashton heard a loud screech as the bird like creature from earlier, appeared out of the mist flapping its wings wildly in a panic. He stepped backwards, reaching to cover his ears from the noise. He looked back at Calum who was doing the same.

"It's the creature from before." Ashton said, trying to yell over it.

That was when Ashton spotted a dark mist growing from just behind the tree. A shadowy creature emerged. Calum raised his wand, before yelling out a spell to stun it. Ashton bit his lip, as the shape kept moving.

"It's not working." He panicked, shaking the wand wildly. "We have to get out of here."

The two broke into a run, he could hear the footsteps of the creature behind them. His feet were sliding on the icy ground, as he slid the egg back into his pocket. He turned back to look for a moment at the dark hulk of a creature, it seemed to stop at the edge of the forest as if stopped by an invisible barrier.

Ashton thought about it for a moment, Hogwarts did have a barrier around it to stop evil creatures from making it in the castle. He shivered at the thought of what could've become of them if they'd stuck around too long. Calum's warnings about the forest being forbidden weren't for nothing.

As they came to a line of trees, they noticed that the shadowy creature was no longer following them, and the two boys pulled to a stop. They both watched as the creature, realising it had hit the school's barrier and it disappeared back into the forest.

Ashton frowned. There was no way that he could leave the egg back there with that thing. Yet, he knew Calum had a point. They had so many magical creatures already they couldn't possibly take care of another one when it hatched. Especially one that was illegal to be kept without a license. Ashton was so conflicted there didn't seem to be a good option to any of this.

"Fine, you can keep the egg." Calum panted, holding himself up against the nearby tree.

Ashton looked down at the speckled egg in his hand. If Calum said they could keep it then they had no other choice. Ashton, it seemed was now the proud owner of his very own dragon egg.


	2. Slither

"Please tell me you didn't decide to bring it with you to class." Calum gestured to Ashton's bag as the two of them were leaving their room in Gryffindor tower the next morning.

Ashton lifted the cover of his satchel bag and produced the egg. He held it up to show Calum his handiwork. He'd wrapped the small egg in a towel before they'd left. Calum gave him an exasperated look.

Ashton looked nervous, "Well you have to keep eggs warm right?" He protested noticing Calum's expression, "I can't leave it here all day by itself."

"True, but couldn't you have kept it warm in the room with like a spell or something?" Calum asks, "What if it slips out of your bag and breaks?"

Ashton bit his lip; Calum did have a point about that. Yet he couldn't just leave the egg in their room. They were going to be out all day and it felt kind of cruel to leave it in the room all day whilst they were out at classes. He was worried their half cat, half-Kneazle would break the egg on its own. 

"Well it's not going to, because I'm taking good care of it, see? " Ashton smiled as he puts the egg back into his bag with his books carefully concealing it in the small towel. Calum pulls a face. He didn't agree with Ashton's way of caring for the egg. He believed that leaving it in the room with a spell was a much better idea and gave them less chance of being caught with one. 

Calum sighs, shooting Ashton's bag a look, "Whatever. I guess it's your egg."

"Exactly." Ashton smiles.

After that, the two Gryffindors headed for the Great Hall. It was only early in the morning, but there were already students everywhere. Each was dressed in their black and coloured house robes. Each colour represented the different houses. 

The students in yellow were Hufflepuffs. They sat on the left of the room, they were usually a pretty friendly bunch and Ashton only had good things to say about the students from that house. To the right of them were the Ravenclaws who were dressed in blue, they were generally quite smart and the best people to ask if you needed a hand with homework. The table beside it held their house, Gryffindor who wore red in their robes. They were best known for being brave and courageous. The final table held the Slytherin's, the green house and the one that you wanted to mess with the least. They were brilliant, many of them had special talents that made them stand out from the other witches and wizards in the school. Yet they didn't tend to want to socialise positively with the other houses, they also had a reputation for being bullies. You Know Who had been in that house after all, it didn't give them that good a reputation to start off with. The Slytherins that currently attended in Hogwarts didn't seem interested in trying to change that stereotype. 

Ashton thought the bullies in Gryffindor were bad enough. He'd hate to think if he'd been put in Slytherin how much worse things could've been. Maybe he would've been lucky to survive his first year at all. Not many days would pass without rumours of what Slytherin students had said and done in the halls of Hogwarts. Awful hexes, enchantments and dungeons all sprung to mind when Ashton thought of the reptilian themed house. 

"Want to sit outside?" Calum asked as he gestured to all the people. Ashton nodded knowing if they sat at the table that they'd have to deal with the other Gryffindors. With the added issue of the secret egg, outside was the best option.

They collected a couple of rolls, some bacon and a few of the other breakfast foods from the table, wrapping them up and stashing them carefully in their robes. They hurried out into the corridor outside before anyone; ghost, professor or student could say anything. The boys did it so often since they were first years that most people didn't even batter an eyelid anymore when they did so.

"We did well today." Calum grinned, as he thought of the horde of food they'd collected.

"I know, we haven't had hash browns for weeks." Ashton agreed as they raced through the narrow corridor.

They turned the corner, neither boys noticing the blonde haired Slytherin until the three boys had collided. All let out a shriek as they fell. Ashton's bag slipped from his shoulder, he turned just in time to see the egg flying out the bag as it slid from the towel. He feebly reached for it as it skittered to a halt right at the edge of the corridor. The Slytherin that had been walking in the other direction gasped, quickly pausing to collect all of Ashton's things as he rose from the ground.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, barely looking in Ashton's eyes. He was pulling all Ashton's books into a pile when his eyes froze on the egg. He let out a sharp gasp as Ashton and him reached to grab it at the same time. Both hesitated. 

"What's that? " He asked quietly, his eyes fixated on the egg.

Before Ashton could respond, Calum ducked between them and scooped the egg up. He put it into the other pocket of his robe. "For Care of Magical creatures." He replied, dodging the boys curious gaze. The Slytherin didn't say anything else, he just nodded and handed Ashton back his books. Ashton smiled at him gratefully muttering a small thanks. Calum tugged on Ashton's robes and the two of the began to hurry away towards the exit.

"It's a dragon egg, right?" The Slytherin called after the two of them, not moving from his spot. Calum and Ashton both froze at this, stopping to turn and give the boy a confused look.

"You know, if you let it slip out like that too often, you'll end up hurting it." The Slytherin continued, confusing the two of them.

"Huh?" Calum questioned.

The Slytherin smiled, "I know a few things about taking care of dragons..." Neither Calum nor Ashton's expressions changed. So, the stranger began to turn away, "...I mean If you want to learn something, I could teach you. We could meet at the bridge tonight."

Calum and Ashton exchanged glances, what was this boy suggesting?

"After hours?" Calum asked slowly, "No one's brave enough to do that."

The boy gave a smug smile as he turned back to them, "Funny, I see you both sneaking out all the time, more than anyone else." He shrugged. "I would've thought you'd be brave enough to do it. I guess if you don't want my help, it doesn't matter."

"Wait, how do you?" Calum asked, with an uncertain glance at Ashton who shrugged.

The boy grinned, "I know a lot that goes on around here. Sometimes you just need to be paying a little bit of attention."

*********  
Calum and Ashton had debated the whole thing all day. Both boys knew that you never trusted anyone from Slytherin house as they were probably double crossing you or doing it solely for their own benefit. Well at least that's what Calum had always told Ashton about the house. That when both his parents had attended Hogwarts, they'd said the same thing. From what he'd seen so far, he believed it.

Regardless the two of them snuck out of their room that night. Calum had placed a charm on them to disguise them from the teachers and prefects that might be wandering the corridors. Ashton had never understood how to do it himself, but it was a spell Calum had been passed on from his family. It meant that they could see each other still but no one else could. Calum used it quite a bit when they had some exploring to do like tonight. 

No matter how many times they did it, Ashton always feared the appearance of a teacher. Sure enough, a light appeared down the corridor from a lantern. Calum and Ashton froze to ensure that the person wouldn't hear their footsteps. Ashton sucked in a deep breath as the professor began to walk past. Yet they didn't even glance in their direction. 

The two of them continued to walk, protected by the charm all the way until they made it to the long bridge at the other end of the castle. Calum did a quick check to ensure that they were alone, or that only Michael was watching. Then Calum dropped the spell. 

The bridge that they stood on was new, a shadow of its former self. The original bridge had been damaged in the Second Wizarding War years ago, when both were small. It had since been rebuilt and restored to its original state. It had arched ledges that curved together up to a steeple. The top of each viewing section was decorated with an intricate repeating pattern. You could see the hills around Hogwarts from this spot.

The two of them searched it thoroughly looking for any signs of hexes left by the Slytherin or worse still; a waiting teacher. There didn't seem to be any, so the two boys took to looking through the spaces in the bridge at the castles surrounding grounds.

"He's late." Calum frowned looking down at the time on his watch.

Ashton nodded, "That's what worries me."

Calum nodded. However, despite their grievances the boy soon emerged, bundled up in his green Slytherin robe, his eyes widened as he saw them, his cheeks suddenly flushing with pink as he hurried to join them," Sorry I'm late." He started, "I wasn't sure you two would come because no one usually does when I want to help them. So, I didn't exactly hurry up here."

Calum and Ashton exchanged glances, they had both seriously talked about not coming, but had both decided to give the Slytherin boy the benefit of the doubt. Ashton couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. How many other people had he offered to help, and they hadn't showed?

Ashton blushes, "Well we were kind of scared you were going to put a twitching ear or a bedazzling hex on us."

The Slytherin boy let out a groan as he shook his head, "Why does everyone always think that?" He sighed, "I hate my house anyway, so I want no part in that."

"How can you hate your house?" Calum asks with a bemused expression.

Ashton sighs, realising that Calum didn't completely understand what it had been like for him in his first year. In first year, he would've gladly said awful things about the Gryffindor house if it weren't for Calum.

"No one likes me much." The boy shrugs, "Most people don't know I exist, this is fourth year and I'm practically a ghost."

"You're in fourth year like us?" Calum asks

The boy let out a long sigh as he threw his hands in the air, "My point proven, no one even notices me. I've been in plenty of classes with you both before." He looked between the two of them, "I mean I know that you are Calum Hood. Everyone in your family that's ever come here has been sorted into a Gryffindor and you're amazing with spells. Then you're Ashton. I'm pretty sure both your parents are muggles, right? I remember people used to give you a lot of grief about it in first year."

They both blinked at him, he knew a lot about them considering they knew nothing about him.

"I also know that the two of you sneak out almost as much as I do, you steal breakfast from the Great Hall each morning and sneak it outside and that your clearly best friends." He added with a proud grin.

"That it?" Calum smiled with a small grin.

He blushed, "Well no but that's a basic summary..." He shuffled awkwardly before grinning, "That reminds me that I don't think I've introduced myself, I'm Michael."

"How do you know all that?" Ashton gasped staring at Michael in awe,

"I've seen you two a lot, you're the only other people that sneak out the castle as much as I do." He smiled. "Besides, you notice a lot about people when you're always by yourself."

"Don't you have dorm-mates?" Calum asked, realising that the boy meant he didn't have any friends.

Michael sighed, "Oh, I do have one. Luke, you might have heard of him?"

"You room with Luke?" Calum asked, a slight look of awe on his face. Ashton didn't understand what the fuss was about, but to be fair he wasn't up with the names of a lot of the other students from outside of their house. He and Calum stuck together so much that these days he barely noticed the details of the other students.

"Don't give me that awe struck look. He's a pain." Michael groaned, "He's Slytherin's great hero but a worm when you room with him."

Ashton knew who they were talking about now. Luke was basically a living legend around here. He had made the Quidditch team straight up in first year, the first person to do that since the famous Harry Potter all those years ago. Not that Calum had been far behind making the Gryffindor team straight away in second. Luke had also saved one of the professors in second year from a duelling group of students. Though third year took the cake, the school had been in chaos. A magical force had torn down the school's protective barrier, Luke had been the head of a group of students who had worked to keep the barrier in place while the Professors reinstated it.

He was Slytherin's and Hogwarts current hero, Ashton was surprised to hear he was so awful. He couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to Michael to make him hate him so much. He'd always seemed reasonable when Ashton had seen him around.

"So anyway, can I have a look at the egg?" Michael asked his eyes lighting up with excitement.

Calum nodded, grabbing it out from his pocket. He had ended up minding the egg all day. After this mornings near accident he was scared that Ashton was going to drop it again, so he'd taken ownership of it.

He passed the egg to Michael who cradled the egg gently in his hands. He held it up into the moonlight looking over it carefully. He ran his hand across the surface.

"It's a Pygmy Celestial egg." Michael announced, to the two of them noticing the boys confused looks. He added, "These guys are pretty small, even at full size. You should be able to take care of it in your room even as it grows. They have the most amazing scale colours and are intelligent if you train them right." He frowned looking between them suspiciously, "How did you get one of these anyway?"

Ashton and Calum exchanged glances, could they tell him about last night?

Ashton thought it through carefully Michael seemed to know a lot about dragons, perhaps he could even explain what happened last night. He'd pulled through tonight, he decided that if there was anyone in Hogwarts, other than Calum he could trust it was the strange Slytherin boy that stood before him.

Nervously Ashton launched into explaining what had happened. Calum even looked stunned through some of it as he hadn't been there. Michael nodded as he talked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Whoa that's so awesome." Michael gasped when he was done, jumping up and down in the spot, "Ashton you're so lucky. I wonder what that creature was that lead you to it. Your certain it wasn't a thunderbird?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure what it was. It might have been a thunderbird I guess but it looked all wrong." Ashton explained, "Anyway none of that matters now, we just need to make sure no one else finds out about it."

"Right." Michael nods, his eyes stray out to the castle grounds before he turns back to Ashton and Calum again. "It's not going to be easy. If someone else sees it we could all be in a lot of trouble, they might even take the egg away."

"Or expel us..." Calum added quietly.

Calum and Ashton were silent. The thought of the egg being taken away wasn't a friendly one. Both felt a sort of ownership over the egg now.

"Let me know when it hatches, I'll help you get some food for it." Michael smiles, "This breed eats all sorts of things so it might take us a while to work out what it wants."

He gave the egg a small rub before passing it to Calum. "But for now, its best if you keep taking care of it. No offence Ash,"

Ashton gave a small scowl in Michael's direction. Though he knew he'd already dropped it once and Calum was much more careful than he was. He gave a small nod to Michael, "Alright fine, I guess it is safer with Calum after all."

"I thought you'd understand." Michael grinned back at him.

A silence fell over the three boys.

"Well I guess I better be going." Michael spoke, straightening his robes.

"Thanks, Michael, for all your help, we really appreciate it." Ashton smiled.

"Just doing my duty to Gryffindors." Michael shrugged though there was a small smile on his face. Michael began to turn towards the way he'd come.

"You know you should come and hang out with us sometime." Calum says quietly as Michael turned. "I mean you did say you don't really have a lot of friends in your house."

Ashton glared at Calum; sure, Michael had helped them big time, but he wasn't ready to have a Slytherin hang out with them. Everyone he'd met from that house was in it for a reason and they usually weren't very nice especially to muggle born's like him. Something about pure bloods being better or something awful like that.

Michael looked at him gobsmacked, "You don't mean, that do you?"

Calum smiled, "Of course I do."

Michael nodded quickly, "I'd like that a lot."

"Come have breakfast with us in the morning. Okay?" Calum grinned.

Michael nodded, a smile on his face, "Okay."

"See you in the morning then." Calum nodded.

Michael muttered a quick farewell before dashing away down the corridor. Ashton couldn't help but notice the spring in Michael's step as he raced away. He supposed that what the boy had said about not having any friends here was true. He turned to Calum shooting him a confused glance.

"He helped us big time. It's the least we can do." Calum shrugged as the two of them began the journey back towards Gryffindor tower and its common rooms.

Though as they walked back, Ashton couldn't help but wonder as nice as Michael was, if it was worth trusting the Slytherin. Though he knew nothing would change Calum's mind so he couldn't help but hope that they hadn't made a fatal mistake befriending him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! ^^


	3. Dungeons & House Elves

"He didn't come." Calum frowned, as the two headed off to their first class for the day. They had waited outside at their morning spot under the trees, but Michael hadn't showed up. He'd seemed so excited about it the night before, but perhaps it had all been an act. They'd even gone back to check the hall, but he was nowhere in sight.

"He is a Slytherin." Ashton frowned, "He probably didn't want to sit with us anyway."

"Yeah." Calum agreed, though he didn't look too convinced. Michael had come through last night when they'd both doubted him, Calum wondered, why he would suddenly decide not to hang out with them now. If he'd been watching them for so long Calum would've thought they'd at least see him.

However, when the two entered their next class, Defence Against the Dark Arts that they now knew that they shared with the Slytherin, Michael was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe he's just sick." Ashton spoke as they slid into their usual seats in the middle rows.

Calum frowned, his eyes searching the room one more time, "I guess so."

Still for the entire duration of the class Calum still wasn't sure he believed that. He'd seen the genuine excitement in Michael's eyes the night before. He'd wanted to sit with them for lunch, and he wanted to help them with the dragon. Calum peeked into his bag, checking that the tiny egg was still safely tucked in his bag. After what Michael had said he'd taken the main ownership over from Ashton. It was still warm from the warming charm he'd placed on it so it must be doing okay.

Both kept watching the door, but Michael didn't show. Calum looked over noticing Luke talking to a group of friends during the class's activities. Maybe he could ask him if Michael was doing okay but he wasn't sure Luke was the best person to ask. From what Michael had said he may be the school's hero at present, but he sounded more like your stereotypical Slytherin than someone who would help them.

By the time lunch rolled around and they still hadn't seen him; Calum declared that they needed to do some investigating. So, they collected a few food items from the Great Hall before heading up to the nurse's wing. It was quiet, one of the nurses was attending to a first year who was having their arm strapped into a sling. There was no sign of Michael anywhere. They even asked the nurse who shrugged and said she hadn't had him here today.

They couldn't get into the Slytherin common room to check, but somehow both doubted he'd be there even if they could.

"It's not like he left school or anything...."

"But I know just who might know something...." Calum frowned his eyes on the two Slytherin boys walking across the corridor in front of them. He wasn't holding back on them anymore, he needed to know where he was. It was just too suspicious.

"Luke!" Calum called after them. Ashton shot him a stunned glare. 

It took a moment, but the blonde stopped, turning towards them. Luke's piercing blue eyes falling on the two of them a moment later. He looked between them, looking disinterested, "Uh, yeah? What do you want?"

"You room with Michael right, is he okay? Have you seen him today?" Calum asked, there was a slight edge to his tone.

The blonde Slytherin blinked at them, "You want to know about Michael? Why the sudden interest?"

Calum and Ashton nodded quickly. Though neither answered his question, they couldn't tell anyone else about the dragon egg that had brought them together. Especially after what Michael had told them about him.

Luke simply shrugged, "All I know is he mentioned something about meeting with Gryffindors this morning, but I haven't seen him since. Sorry."

So, he'd been coming to meet with them after all. He'd even told Luke where he was going. What had happened between that time? 

The dark-haired guy beside Luke sniggered. Luke raised an eyebrow at the other boy as if confused. "Jake, what's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing." The boy said, trying to cover up his laughter, "But good luck finding him."

Calum was not amused. He raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms, glaring at the guy, "If you know something, I'd appreciate you telling me."

The boy let out another snigger. Calum went for his back pocket where his wand was kept. Ashton's eyes searched quickly around them, they weren't supposed to threaten other students with magic, if a teacher saw they'd all be in detention for sure. Though the wand didn't leave his pocket as he continued to glare.

"You know the dungeons are pretty cosy this time of year." The guy next to Luke grinned. "Maybe he went to hang out around there?"

Ashton and Calum gasped finding the meaning in his cryptic words. Luke scowled at him looking even a little offended. Calum frowned remembering what Michael had said about his roommate being a worm. He was probably running the whole trick and was mad at the other boy for hinting at their secret. Calum was fuming, realising what the Slytherins had done. His hand went back to his pocket, and a billion curses went through his mind. Perhaps they'd both look good with a pig's tail or some frog lips.

"Uh, thanks." Ashton frowned, his eyes on Calum. Slowly Calum moved his hand away from his pocket. Ashton nodded to him.

With those words the two Slytherin boys walked away leaving both Gryffindors stunned. It took everything Ashton had not to reach for his own wand. Yet he knew it wouldn't get either of them very far. It wouldn't take much for them to work out who had cast the spell, knowing their luck a Professor would walk past at any moment.

"You think they have something to do with it?" Calum frowned.

Ashton nodded, "For sure, but we have to be at Care of Magical creatures at the forest, in ten minutes we'll never make it to the dungeons and back in time." Ashton frowned.

"Never mind that, Michael could be in a lot of trouble," Calum frowned, he had already started to walk in the opposite direction. He turned back, noticing that Ashton wasn't following, "Are you coming?"

Ashton thought about how he'd felt in first year. Especially if he'd been stuck down in the dungeons. Michael might need their help and that was way more important than some class. He chased after Calum to find their friend. The word seemed strange in his mind, his only friend at Hogwarts had always been Calum. There would be nothing wrong with having another one, right?

They ran through the halls of Hogwarts, as they made it closer to the main corridors, they found they had to push through the crowds of students that were already headed to their next classes. They made their way to the heavy steel iron door that led down to the dungeons, Calum performed an unlocking spell and the door slid open. They began to walk down the staircase.

The first thing the two boys had noticed was the smell. It smelt like years of rotting garbage. Ashton frowned, it smelled like something had died down here. Calum pulled out his wand, letting it illuminate the room at the bottom of the staircase. Ashton did the same.

"You think they were pulling our leg?" Calum frowned, as he moved his wand around the dungeon's cold stone walls. Ashton looked back up the staircase behind them, he half expected to see the steel door to close behind them with the two Slytherin boys laughing their heads off. Thankfully they didn't appear.

There was a small banging sound. Both boys exchanged glances racing towards the noise, their feet sliding on the mossy ground. Calum slipped and fell his wand falling on the ground to a clatter. It fell right in front of someone's foot. They thrashed about wildly.

Calum stood and picked up his wand again, running it along the pale, trembling person's body. Their wrists and legs were tied. Finally, he came to the blonde head. His eye was slightly bruised but the Slytherin slumped back in relief and stopped moving around.

"Heck, Michael. What happened?" Calum spoke to the trembling person, seeming to ignore where his leg was bleeding from the fall.

Michael's mouth moved to respond, but no words seemed to come out. He pointed to his throat.

"Silencing charm." Calum muttered angrily, before waving his wand and performing the counter spell.

Michael let out a small cough.

"Thank you." Michael grinned, his face lighting up as he realised, he was able to talk again.

Ashton had never been so grateful for his friends' skills with his wand. If he'd been alone, he would've had no idea what to do. Charms, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts were not his best subjects like Calum's were. He knew spells well enough, but sometimes they didn't always go to plan. Small spells could work a little too well, while larger spells could end up being disastrous. Though to be fair Ashton knew he was great at Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Potions so he figured that made up for it.

"Who did this to you?" Ashton asked in disgust as he helped Calum to untie him.

"Didn't see. They were some Slytherin guys." Michael spoke darkly, his eyes downcast. "They left me here to rot." He added bitterly.

"We have to tell someone." Calum frowned, shaking his head. "They can't do this to you."

"It wouldn't be the first time. The teachers won't do anything."

"Not the first time?" Ashton asked feeling his heart ache. He was suddenly feeling as though he was seeing his life as a first year playing back out before his eyes. How long had this been going on? Why didn't any of the professors listen to him when it was so clear the other Slytherins were bullying him?

Yet he'd been there himself. Nights sleeping out in the common room, so he didn't have to face his roommates. He'd tried to ask for help, but as the professors had pulled the other students together for a chat the bullying had only gotten worse. Was this what Michael had been going through?

"Yeah, usually one of the ghosts will eventually find me, and get one of the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs down here." Michael shrugged. "It's pretty common actually."

"That's terrible, I wish I'd known sooner..." Calum frowned.

"It's okay really." Michael shrugged seeming to try and make light of it. "At least someone came and found me so that's the main thing..."

There was silence neither Calum nor Ashton knowing what to say to him. There wasn't a lot to say when he was making it sound as though this didn't bother him. Yet Ashton could see Michael just didn't want them to worry about him. 

"In any case, how's the egg? Sorry I didn't get there this morning. I was so excited...and then this happened..."

Calum reached into his bag and produced the egg shining his wands light to it. "Not much happening, but the warming charm I put on it seems to be working."

"Excellent." Michael grins, "I can't wait until it hatches, then it'll be more exciting."

"We'll also have to work out how we take care of a dragon without the whole of Hogwarts finding out." Calum frowned as he tucked the egg back into his bag.

"I say we've at least got about two or three weeks before it hatches." Michael nods. "We should be able to come up with something by then."

"I hope so." Ashton and Calum both agree. Though both wondered what they would've done if Michael hadn't helped them. Even though they were both taking Care of Magical Creatures they hadn't been taught a lot about dragons yet, they were more higher-level stuff.

"Anyway, what time is it?" Michael questioned.

"Just after lunch." Calum answered, "I'm sorry we didn't make it here sooner."

Michael sighed, slumping back onto the back wall. "Damn, now I've missed a bunch of classes and I'm late for next class and everything because of those idiots."

His stomach let out a grumble.

"Plus, I'm starving...."

"We'll head for the kitchens then." Ashton grins, "We're kind of friends with some of the house elves that work in the kitchen."

Michael gasps, "Wait there's House elves at Hogwarts?"

"There sure is."

***********

The three of them headed for the kitchen. They came to a well-lit corridor with various paintings of food. The three of them stopped in front of a large painting of a bowl of fruit. Michael raised an eyebrow as Calum leaned forwards tickling the pear part of the painting with his finger. The pear turned into a doorknob and Calum pulled it open. A small house elf with big bat like ears and a bald head appeared dressed in what looked almost to be a tea towel with a small Hogwarts crest on their chest.

"Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin. It has been long time since Flossy saw the young wizards." The small creature yelled excitedly opening the door for them. "Did Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin sleep through their alarms?"

Calum shook his head, moving out the way to give the centre of attention to Michael.

"No but our friend here Michael missed out on breakfast and lunch because of a few bullies. Any chance there's still some food left over?" Calum asked.

"Of course. Flossy can always find food for a friend of Calum." The house elves eyes turned to Michael, "Flossy is pleased to make your acquaintance."

Michael looked petrified his face was pale and he barely managed a nod. Ashton silently wondered whether he'd ever seen a house elf before. He knew Calum's family had one, so he knew the exact way to speak to them. Yet he wasn't sure about Michael's.

"Come on, it'll be fine." Ashton told him, ushering him in the door behind them. Michael gave a slightly frightened nod.

Calum had a certain way with house elves, when Ashton went to visit his place over the summer, he always seemed to be able to strike up a conversation and always spoke to them with respect. As did his parents. Though Ashton knew from Calum's words that not everyone treated house elves with the same respect. Apparently working conditions had improved a lot in the last decade or so, house elves were required to be paid now and there were certain organisations in the wizarding world that had been set up solely for helping them get rights.

He'd always wondered what it would've been like growing up with a small elf helping, cooking your meals, doing your washing, tidying your room. Calum had always talked fondly about their families two house elves, so he figured it must've been good having them.

The elves went to work quickly, finding various foods and drinks and laying them out on the table in front of them. There was enough food on the table to feed a whole village. Michael was stunned as they kept bringing out more and more food.

"This is amazing." Michael gasped looking amongst all the food as the house elves kindly gestured for them to take a seat. The tables and chairs were a little small as they were designed for house elves, but they were manageable, "I can't believe they'd do all this because you asked them to."

"If your nice to the house elves here, they're nice to you." Calum smiled. "I mean the house elves always favour me at home."

"Is your family rich?" Michael asked, though he bit his lip after he said it.

"We're just an old wizarding family." He shrugged. Calum paused for a moment, Michael was still staring at him, "But yes, I guess you could say that."

Ashton knew Calum didn't like talking about it much. He hated to talk about the fact that when they weren't at Hogwarts, he lived in a massive house with two house elves. That he was pure blood or that his parents were both high up members of the Ministry of Magic.

Ashton and Calum hadn't eaten much for lunch either, so they ate a little bit as well. As they ate, they chatted about themselves. Michael it turned out was a pure blood who didn't see his parents that often. They both worked for the Ministry of Magic, but their work kept them away from home often, so he grew up being cared for by his grandmother. Therefore, he spent a lot of time researching and learning things from her stories.

Ashton couldn't believe that the Slytherin had pulled through again. He wasn't kidding when he said he wanted no part in the trickery and deceptive nature of his house. He just hoped that things would stay that way. He couldn't help but feel there was usually a reason someone was placed in that house. If Luke had been part of that horrible dungeon trick, he especially had reason to be there. 

When they were finished, the boys thanked the house elves, and left for their next class. Seeing the smile on Michael's face though. Ashton couldn't help but think that maybe not all Slytherin's were that bad after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! ^^


	4. Blending In

With classes over for the day; Ashton, Calum and Michael ate dinner together in the Great Hall with the other students. There had been plenty of stunned glances from the Gryffindors when Michael had come and sat down with them. In fact, they’d been getting odd looks all afternoon during their classes. The three of them tried to ignore the stares. Yet it didn’t stop Michael from feeling out of place amongst his new friends. He couldn’t help but wonder all afternoon whether he should go and work on his own or just go and sit back with the other Slytherins like he usually did. The only thing that kept him, was that Ashton and Calum didn’t seem to be bothered by all the attention.

As the three of them ate their meal, Michael was still chattering away to the others about how amazed he was by the house elves. He’d know they’d existed and heard of families having one, yet their manner and kindness had surprised him. His whole family were pure bloods, but they’d never had one. Ashton had been a little surprised at this, he’d always assumed because Calum had one that house elves were quite common between wizarding families. Though from the way Michael was going on, he figured that they weren’t as common as he thought.

Ashton knew that even after these past few years he still had a lot to learn about the Wizarding world.

“Hey look everyone, snakes must be colour blind!” A voice yells echoing through the entire Great Hall. Within moments, every eye in the room is turned towards them. Michael paled quickly, looking like he was going to be sick. Ashton and Calum both did their best to shoot him a comforting glance.

The blonde Gryffindor that had yelled stood up and smiled sickly sweet at Michael. Michael gulped. “You’re tables over there, snake.” He teased, as he pointed towards the Slytherin table. A few of the other Gryffindor students seated around him sniggered. A small bought of laughter erupted from the Slytherin table too.

Michael stood quickly and started packing up his things. “I should probably go.” He spoke, looking down at his plate. Ashton raised his hand to stop him, and Calum shook his head. Michael hesitated for a moment before sitting back down.

When the blonde didn’t move, Calum shot straight into the air glaring him down. “Oh really? I didn’t think there was a rule you had to always sit with your house.” Calum frowned, “There’s been both Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws at the table before and you’ve never made a fuss. Why now? Why with a Slytherin?”

The two of them glared at each other for a moment. It seemed Calum had the guy stumped. Calum wasn’t backing down either.

“Well it has its own table,” The blonde shrugged, “Look around Hood, you see any other houses sitting here now?”

He didn’t give Calum a chance to protest, “No didn’t think so.” He spoke with a smirk, “If you think that’s the case, why don’t you all move over to it’s table with your charity case?”

Calum’s hand was on his wand pocket. Ashton internally winced, silently hoping that he wouldn’t grab it. He looked up to the Professors table at the front of the room, none of them had seemed to catch on yet, but the moment anyone released a spell they would take notice for sure.

Ashton looked over to Michael who was half standing, half sitting now, his expression was miserable. It was obvious how torn he was of the idea of leaving their table. After the conversation they’d had with him about the dungeons he knew Michael being forced to sit with the other Slytherins was a worst-case scenario. Especially when they all knew Calum and Ashton wouldn’t be welcome at his house’s table either.

“You can come and sit with us.” A quiet voice spoke from across the table. Everyone in the room’s eyes turned to see a Hufflepuff boy standing there looking nervous. The Hufflepuffs around him slowly turned up to him, some nodded in agreement whilst a few others glared at him.

Then a Ravenclaw girl sprung up from the other table, “Other houses are welcome at our table as well.”

The blonde Gryffindor shot a stunned glance between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students that had raced to their defence. Naturally no one in Slytherin rushed into defend them.

“They’re right, why can’t we have other houses at out table?” A girls’ voice asked from further down the Gryffindor table. She looked a little embarrassed, her cheeks were flushed with a bright pink. A few Gryffindors around her began to nod and mumble small agreements.

“Exactly,” Calum smiled at the blonde and crossing his arms, “If you’ve got such a big problem with it, then why don’t you leave?”

A few of the Gryffindors mumbled to one another and gave small nods. The blonde looked around the table almost disgusted in those around him. He seemed to realise that he wasn’t getting anywhere. So, the blonde grabbed their plate of food they were eating and stormed off in a huff. A few other Gryffindors stood and chased after him. Once they were gone, most of the students around them quickly returned to their own food as it nothing had even happened.

Calum grinned as he sat down, “I can’t believe that actually worked.”

“Me either, thanks.” Michael smiled as he sat down properly this time. He looked further down the table to the girl who had stood up for him, “Thanks for sticking up for me.”

They gave embarrassed nods before turning away. Even though people had stood up for him, it could still be uncomfortable having a Slytherin talking to you.

Michael sighed, looking a little embarrassed for trying to talk to them.

Ashton tried to lighten the mood by changing the subject to what they had been learning about it Charms this afternoon. That seemed to get Michael talking. They spent the rest of dinner talking about different spells they knew, and Calum showed them some tricks as to how to do some of the new ones that they’d been taught that day.

Eventually the candle lights above began to dim, and there was barely anyone left in the Great Hall. The few people that remained kept glancing over at them. Michael’s mood seemed to darken quickly. They knew that they would be forced to go back to their dorms soon.

“Well I guess I better be going…” Michael spoke solemnly as they left the Great Hall and made It into the nearby hallway. His foot was already moving in the way of the Slytherin common room.

Michael silently knew what he might be in for when he made it back there. He could only hope that Luke and the rest of the Slytherins would be asleep when he made it there. Even if he did make it back in unscathed, he dreaded the morning when he’d quite possibly end up back in the dungeons again. After what had happened in the Great Hall tonight it was almost guaranteed.

“Wait, come with us.” Ashton spoke, as Michael turned to walk away.

Michael and Calum both raised an eyebrow at him.

“I mean if you want to. Just for tonight.” Ashton extended nervously. He couldn’t bare to think that Michael might have to go through this morning all over again. No one wanted to find him back in the dungeons again. At least they were more aware of it happening this time, but still.

After a moment’s hesitation Calum nodded as well. Michael was silent though fiddling anxiously with the hem of his robe.

Michael nodded, “Yes, after what happened this morning. If it’s possible, I want to.” He looked nervous, “Uh, is that okay?”

“Of course.” Ashton and Calum both nodded, shooting him a warm smile.

With that, the three of them headed up the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room. They weren’t far from it when a painfully awful racket could be heard through the corridors. It sounded like a dying cat trying to sing opera. Michael’s eyes widened in alarm, but Ashton and Calum only shook their heads, muttering something about it happening again. Eventually they came to the doorway where a portrait of a woman hung. She had overdone, curly hair and was dressed in a fluffy pink bathrobe. Worst of all she was singing high pitched opera at the top of her voice.

Calum began to clap to gain her attention, but her painful song continued. Calum looked at Ashton hopelessly. Michael grimaced, covering his ears. He wasn’t used to the woman’s ear-piercing racket at all. He didn’t know how Ashton and Calum could stand it.

“Banana fritters.” Ashton spoke to the door, his tone deadpan. He wasn’t much in the mood for waiting the possible hours for her song to stop. Yet usually is someone said the password she’d stop. Though it wasn’t always guaranteed. 

The lady paused, her singing ending immediately. She gazed over the three of them carefully. She smiled warmly at both Calum and Ashton, but her eyebrows narrowed on Michael. Ashton gulped and Michael paled, his toe already beginning to turn to run.

“That is the password.” She nodded, “Yet visiting hours are over. That Slytherin isn’t coming here with you. He needs to go back to his own house.”

Michael shrunk a little, muttering incoherently.

Calum simply rolled his eyes at her, “Come on, can’t you let him in? He’s the only one?”

The lady puffed up her chest, as she glared at Calum, “No. As long as he’s wearing that green Slytherin garb he isn’t allowed in here at this time of night.” She glared at Michael, “You heard me, hurry along now or I’ll make a scene so loud that all the professors will be here in seconds.”

Ashton frowned, that was the last thing they needed. They’d be in trouble for trying to bring Michael in here for sure.

Yet Calum simply grinned mischievously, pulling his wand from his pocket. Michael and Ashton exchanged worried glances. What on Earth was he planning? He didn’t intend to hurt her, did he? He was all for helping Michael, but it wasn’t worth that. Hurting a portrait would get him expelled for sure.

“Really, I can go back to my own room.” Michael frowned as Calum pointed the wand at him. Nervously he stepped back towards the railing as Calum’s wand sparked with life.

“No need.” Calum grinned, tapping the wand just above Michael’s collar.

Slowly the colour of the fabric on Michael’s robes began to change from Slytherin green to Gryffindor red. The house logo even changed to that of a Gryffindor.

Ashton and Michael both gasped as Michael looked down at his robes. That was some pretty impressive magic. Michael tugged on his robes in stunned shook. He couldn’t believe what Calum had managed to pull off. He stared at Calum in wonder as he tucked the wand back into his pocket.

The question was, would it work?

“Now can he come in?” Calum asked, turning back to the portrait with a smug grin.

The lady looked over Michael carefully. She shook her head muttering something about teenagers. Regardless, the door swung right open and the three of them were able to enter without another hitch.

As they made it through the door, Michael was suddenly nervous. He’d never once been into any of the other common rooms before.

He wasn’t surprised to the see the room was donned in the Gryffindors famous red. There was large golden trophies and red and yellow frilled banners on one side of the room. A few stragglers remained in the seating area on plush red sofas that were near a large fireplace. It had a sort of homely feel that stunned him.

It wasn’t that the Slytherin common room was bad of course. There was a large glass screen that looked out onto the nearby lake. Occasionally you could see the odd lake creature swim past. The walls and ceilings in the room were made of a dark marble. There was a fireplace as well, made of the same material. There was also a corridor that lead to the rooms. His room had four beds, but only two were ever used. It had been that way since first year, when the other guy that he and Luke had been sharing with had moved to a spare bed in one of the other rooms. Michael had always wondered why Luke had never changed rooms to be with his friends or invited them into theirs.

“Do you think it could stay like this all the time?” Michael grinned, pulling at his robes in awe. Part of him would love to be in Gryffindor permanently. Yet he knew it wasn’t possible. The Sorting Hat had decided to put him in Slytherin. As apparently that was where he was supposed to be. He sometimes wondered what would’ve happened if he’d been placed into one of the other houses. Would that have made any difference to his time here?

“It’ll wear off in a few hours, but at least this way no one will even notice that you’re in the wrong house.” Calum smiled warmly, “Besides I can reapply a weaker version of the spell in the morning so no one will notice when you leave.”

Michael sighed. Ashton and Calum had been so kind to him that he thought it was great even if only for one night.

Ashton and Calum lead the way up to the towers where the Gryffindors slept. Michael could see that the steps went higher but they stopped at a room on the first level of rooms right at the staircase. The first thing Michael noticed was how small the room was, the two beds barely left enough room for the boy’s trunks or the desks.

There was a small glass box on a cupboard, where three bright green reptiles sat. One looked a little like a frog and the other two looked like lizards. He wasn’t sure whether they could have those here, as only cats, toads, owls and rats were usually allowed.

Despite the size of the room, it had an amazing view. The room was quite high up, so the window looked out over the lake and the forbidden forest. He stood in front of the window in awe. They didn’t have views like this down in the Slytherin common room.

Michael looked around, noticing that Calum and Ashton were both watching him, “Geez your room is a lot smaller, but at least you get a view outside rather than the inside of the lake.”

“I guess so.” Calum nods, “It’s a tiny room but it’s been ours since midway through first year, so we’re used to it.”

Michael was no longer listening; he couldn’t help but grin as he spotted a fluffy golden brown furred Clabbert that rested on Calum’s bed. Their Clabbert was mixed with that of a cat, like most ones that were kept as pets were. They weren’t known for their high intelligence and their ability to detect whether people were suspicious or untrustworthy. Sure, enough as Michael sat himself on the bed beside it, the Clabbert made a small purring sound as it pawed its way across the bed towards him. Before climbing up into his lap and snuggling into it.

“That means she trusts you.” Ashton smiled at him, as he joined him on the bed. “Her name’s Ginger.”

“She’s lovely.” Michael smiled as he stroked the cat like animals’ fur. He couldn’t help but think how lucky Ashton and Calum were to have one of these. He’d begged for an animal in first year, but he hadn’t been allowed to have one.

“Wait, how’s the egg going?” Michael asked jumping a mile in the air with an alarmed expression. Ginger let out a small shriek as she jumped from his lap and onto Ashton.

Calum gasped in realisation as he pulled the egg out of his shoulder bag in a flurried panic. He’d almost forgotten about the egg. A look of relief crossed his face when he found it to be undamaged and still warm. He passed it towards Michael who took it into his hands to take a closer look.

“The eggs doing okay.” Michael mumbled as he looked over the egg and ran his hand over the surface. He handed it back to Calum.

“How long do you think it’ll take to hatch?” Ashton pondered as Calum placed another warming charm on the egg.

Michael frowned, examining the egg carefully. “I’d say probably sometime in the next two weeks. This breed doesn’t take all that long to hatch.”

The three of them fussed over the egg for a little longer until Calum let out a long and loud yawn that was echoed by the other two.

“In any case, I guess we better be getting some rest.” Calum spoke as he let out another yawn, “It’s going to be a big day tomorrow.”

“For sure.” Ashton agreed. Though his eyes scanned worriedly around the room, “Though where is Michael going to sleep?”

Calum blinks looking around the room. He sighs.

“We didn’t think that through, did we?” Calum frowns looking between the two beds. There wasn’t enough room to magic a soft surface for him to sleep on. The room was tiny enough for two, let alone adding a third person.

Michael sighed; he knew that their plan would have to fall apart eventually. He couldn’t help but think if it weren’t for Luke, they could’ve easily snuck into the Slytherin common room where his room would’ve had enough beds.

Yet he knew he didn’t want to go back down there, even if it was the last common room with beds in all of Hogwarts.

“That’s okay. I can just sleep on the floor, there’s enough room.” Michael spoke, although he doubted that there was. It would also be rather uncomfortable.

“No.” Ashton and Calum quickly replied.

Michael frowned; he had no idea how they expected to pull this one off. 

“Cal, do you have some sort of magic charm for this?” Ashton asked, quickly turning to his friend.

“I’m thinking.” Calum frowned.

As he thought, Calum seemed to mumble incoherently as he tapped his wand up and down in his hand. Michael and Ashton watched him quietly, both trying to think of a solution for this.

“Wait, I know.” Calum grinned after a moment.

Without explanation he stood and pointed his wand towards the window, then up at the ceiling. For a moment nothing happened. Michael and Ashton exchanged confused glances. Then the walls began to bend and change, the room seemed to extend out an extra few centimetres, leaving enough room for another bed. Calum raised his wand again, before magicking a bed out of nowhere. He grinned admiring his wand work.

“Why didn’t we do this back in first year?” Ashton grinned at him in awe.

Calum shrugged, tucking his wand away, “Because I didn’t know how to manipulate the magic of the castle then and I didn’t think of it until now.”

“Your skills with a wand are so good it’s scary.” Michael gasped, “Remind me not to get on your bad side, huh?”

Calum grinned smugly, “Thanks.”

“How does it work though?” Michael asked as he examined the bed and the wall.

“Well I used the same theory as those tents that open up into whole rooms. To the outside the castle looks the same, but I just manipulated the room a bit so we’d all fit. Oh, and magicked a bed from the store-room of the castle.” Calum shrugs as if he’d done nothing.

“Okay, he could totally graduate out of half his classes.” Michael nodded to Ashton, before turning back to Calum, “With magic like this I’m surprised the sorting hat didn’t put you in Ravenclaw.”

Calum shrugged, “I don’t think it works like that. My whole family has been in Gryffindor since like the beginning of Hogwarts. Besides I really don’t think I’m a Ravenclaw type.” Calum didn’t elaborate any further on that. “In any case shall we get to bed, we have class early tomorrow.”

“Right.”

With that the three of them headed off to sleep. Calum and Ashton fell asleep easily, though Michael was restless. He couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened today, the way that Calum and Ashton were looking after him. He couldn’t help but worry that even though things were good now that this wouldn’t last. Nothing this good, ever did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	5. A Change In  Heart

All Ashton could hear was someone calling his name. He turned and looked around him, he was surrounded by the dark looking trees of the Forbidden Forest. He heard a content humming sound. He turned to find a small pink winged creature standing before him. The creature was small but beautiful. Its pink scales shimmering under the moonlight. A dragon perhaps?

He raised his hand forward, unafraid of the pink beast that stood before him. It waddled its way over towards him, revealing the scaly surface of its matching wings. It nudged his hand playfully and Ashton gave the creature a small pat. The creature let out a soft growl.

From behind, bats rose from the trees letting out an awful sound. Thick smog began to roll in all around them. Ashton turned in alarm. His eyes meeting with a disfigured looking old woman. She wore a witch's robe and had a purple, glowing, diamond shaped pendant around her neck.

"Give me the Dragon." She hissed her voice crackly like sandpaper.

Ashton shook his head.

"Give me the Dragon." She demanded again; her voice slightly raised.

Ashton reached for his wand, moving his leg protectively in front of the Dragon. The woman raised her own wand, a green light suddenly bursting from it. He didn't hear the spell, but he was thrown backwards as the light hit. He let out a yell as the pain coursed through his body.

_Thud_!

He awoke with a start to find Calum and Michael standing over the bed staring at him. Both wore matching worried expressions. Ashton noted that they were already dressed in their Hogwarts robes. Out the window behind them the sun peaked up just over the horizon. He rubbed his head; they were in their room not the forest. It was just a dream.

"Does he usually have this much trouble getting up and start mumbling in all his dreams?" Michael asked shooting Calum a smug look.

"No this would be the first time." Calum nodded looking even a little bewildered.

Ashton was stunned himself; he was always the first one up. It was usually him dragging Calum out of bed. Not the other way around. He looked at the clock beside his bed, it was already past eight o'clock and classes started in under an hour. Usually he was up at least an hour earlier so they could get the best breakfast from the Great Hall before class started.

"You okay?" Calum questioned looking at him nervously.

"Just a bad dream is all." Ashton shook his head, not wanting to bother them.

After sneaking Michael back out of the Gryffindor Common room, the three of them ran to grab breakfast from the Great Hall. Hoping to avoid the situation from yesterday they took it outside and sat out under a large oak tree. From their spot they could see the Quidditch oval to their left and the Forbidden forest off to the distance in the right. The thatched roof of the circular bricked ground keepers hut was also nearby.

Michael was in a particularly good mood today. He seemed excited that he wouldn't spend half of it in trapped in a dark musty dungeon like the day before. He was fussing over the egg and checking it for cracks. As they ate, Calum was flicking through the Daily Prophet. The wizarding newspaper had arrived by owl early this morning. Wizards still didn't use the internet, so the paper was the best way of finding news especially at Hogwarts. Having not grown-up with-it Ashton always found the moving pictures on each page a little off-putting. It didn't seem to bother Calum though as he flicked through it.

"Someone stole a group of Dragons from a sanctuary in Romania?" Michael yelled pointing towards something on Calum's page. Calum blinked his eyes moving to where Michael was pointing.

"That's terrible. Hopefully they'll turn up." Calum nods. Ashton nods as well.

Michael started at him, "You don't get it. They're supposed to have heavy security there. Like Ministry of Magic level." Michael frowned. "Lots of strong charms. It's supposed to be basically impossible to break in to."

The words settled on both Ashton and Calum who exchanged glances. That was impressive and almost terrifying. Places like that weren't supposed to be broken into that easily.

Like the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts was protected by strong wards, though it was a well-known fact they had failed last year when the school had been attacked by a powerful group of creatures that had torn down the school's barriers. The barriers were supposed to have been improved since then, but there was still the fear that they might come down again.

"They must be a powerful group of witches or wizards then," Calum replied.

"Yeah, they must." Michael nodded in agreement.

The three of them returned to what they had been doing after that, as they hurried to finish off their breakfast before class started for the day.

Ashton was hopeful that after last night no one else would give them grief about the three of them sitting together. Yet as they made it to their potions class that morning it became apparent that wasn't the case. As they walked in the room, every eye on the room seemed to fall on them. Michael seemed to panic slightly but Calum shuffled the two of them along and into seats.

As they passed, he could see Luke raise an eyebrow, as his friends and himself took the seats in front of them.

At Luke's appearance, Michael ducked his head a little, instead pulling out his book and focusing on setting up his next page. Ashton watched as he carefully wrote the date in ink as they waited for the professor to arrive and their class to start. However, even though he'd finished Michael continually went over the date with his pen. Ashton and Calum exchanged worried glances.

"You okay?" Calum asked softly, "You've been writing over and over that for five minutes."

"I'm fine." Michael assures him with a plastered-on smile. Before promptly dropping his pen down on to his page as if he had finished. Though as Calum starts setting up his own page, Ashton noticed Michael returns to tracing over his date once more. He frowns, all the attention he was getting was clearly starting to bother him.

Before he can say anything, Professor Salamander, their potions teacher and head of Slytherin house, stormed into the classroom. He scanned the room, seeming to raise an eyebrow at the two Gryffindors and Slytherin sitting together. Unlike the students he didn't say anything. He simply shook his head before focusing on beginning his lesson on making a wit-sharpening potion.

Ashton tries to focus on the Professor's words, but he can't help the nagging doubt that everyone is staring at them. He makes a sideways glance at Michael and is grateful to see that he seems to be paying attention now. His pen no longer moving over and over on his page. He still looked a little nervous though. Ashton wished that he could think of a way to make Michael feel better about all this. Yet he knew that bringing it up again might make it worse. He knew that much from his own experience.

As they started on the practical portion of their potion work. The blonde Slytherin in front of them has turns and is looks over their cauldron. Luke glares up at Michael, his eyes narrowing, as he gives a hissed whisper, "Where were you last night?"

Michael was quiet for a moment, as he blinks at Luke. Yet Luke didn't move, he leaned closer forwards as he continued to glare.

"I said, where were you last night?" Luke repeated, a little louder this time. His eyes flickered for a moment to Professor Salamander on the other side of the room. Neither Ashton nor Calum replied for him. They had no idea what Michael was going to say to him.

"Nice try." Michael rolled his eyes, barely looking up at him, as he continued to add ingredients to his cauldron. "You know that I sneak out."

"No. Usually you come back." Luke frowned, staring at him unblinkingly.

"You just must've missed me." Michael shrugged, his eyes sticking to his cauldron, "I came back late and left early this morning. You were still asleep."

Luke still didn't look convinced, but he turned back to his work anyway. Luke didn't turn back around to them for the rest of the lesson. However, he did manage to shoot an icy glance between them as he walked past at the end of class. Ashton frowned, what Michael had said about Luke being a worm was right.

The day continued rather uneventfully after that. Students continued to glare at them, but Michael seemed to be doing a much better job of ignoring the attention they were receiving. As the day wore on the glares seemed to become less and less harsh as people seemed to realise that things weren't going to change.

Still the three of them were glad when classes were finally over for the day. At dinner they found a spot right at the end of the Gryffindor house table. Still people glared from the other houses, but not a single Gryffindor seemed to give them a second glance. In fact, even the Fat Lady guarding the portrait didn't even question Michael's entrance in his Slytherin robes. She simply nodded and let the three of them through. Michael was just grateful he didn't have to hear anymore of her awful singing.

The three of them headed back up the staircase to Calum and Ashton's room. Calum's spell hadn't worn off yet, but he strengthened it a little before they could sit down on the beds.

"So, how's the egg going?" Michael asked as they sat down on Calum's bed in the room. Ginger quickly climbed up onto Michael's lap, seeming to forgive him for pushing her off the night before.

"It's still warm." Calum nods, producing the egg from his bag and placing it back on the shelf in the room, "I've been reapplying a warming charm every few hours."

"Good." Michael nodded, seeming to relax at that.

"So, what are we going to do when the egg does eventually hatch though?" Ashton frowns, gazing over the egg. Michael had said that it would probably hatch within the next two weeks. "Sure, you know a lot Michael, but are any of us really qualified for this?"

Michael paused for a moment biting his lip. He clearly hadn't thought much about that either.

Calum nodded, "Ash is right, what will we do?"

Michael remained quiet, then his eyes lit up.

"How about we sneak into the library tonight? They might be in the restricted section but there's sure to be books on dragon care in there." Michael grins, "I even know a secret way to get in there."

Both stared at him. Sneaking out of the castle and into the forbidden forest was one thing but sneaking into possibly the restricted section of the library would be rather tricky. There was more chance that they'd be found out in there than anywhere else in the castle.

"We could get caught though." Calum replied with a frown. "Let's just wait till morning and risk someone seeing us look at books on Dragons."

Michael shot them a look that seemed to suggest that he couldn't believe Calum was being serious.

"When has that ever worried the two of you?" Michael looked at them in disbelief, "You sneak out of the castle all the time?"

"Yes, but we know their safe..." Ashton frowned, "Filch practically hangs around near there. One loud noise and that's it. It's not worth getting a detention or getting expelled."

Calum nods in agreement.

"Come on, that's just what he wants you to think. I've snuck in their a few times at night and I've never been caught, even when I knocked over an entire stack of books. If we don't pick up any howlers, we'll be fine." Michael pleaded. "Besides all the best books about Dragons are in the restricted section, we'll never be allowed to check them out during the day."

Ashton and Calum exchanged glances. They knew Michael had a point, only seventh years and younger years with permission were allowed in the restricted section. There was no way they could look through the books in there during the day. Both were feeling a little uncertain. Could they really get in and out of there without being caught by Filch or one of the Professors?

"Well maybe if Calum used one of his disguise charms on us, we could do it." Ashton suggests, with a grin at his friend.

Calum's eyes go wide in surprise. He looked uncertain about the idea.

Michael gasps, "You know how to do one of those? Like not just changing the colours of robes?"

Ashton nods when Calum doesn't respond, "Calum's pretty clever. You weren't far off it saying he could probably graduate out of half his classes if he wanted to."

Calum shuffled awkwardly, "Well I'm not that good, but yeah, I can do disguise charms. A good one and anyone could walk past us, and they wouldn't even recognise we were students."

"Even better." Michael grinned; it was clear that some sort of plan was forming in the Slytherins mind. "That settles it then, Calum will put a disguise charm on the three of us and we'll sneak down to the library to find the books on Dragons and come back. It's too easy."

"Right?" Michael asked noticing that Calum didn't respond.

After a moment of thought Calum nodded, "Yes, but for one as powerful as you're asking for, they don't last that long especially on three people. So, I can apply one that should last long enough to get us down there, and I'll have to reapply a new one for the way back." Calum warned. "Do you think that'll be enough?"

Michael nodded, "If I can sneak there and back from the Slytherin common room without a disguise charm, it'll be enough."

Calum worked on applying the disguise charm. He explained that anyone who saw them would think they were a group of Professors roaming the corridors. It was clear from the time it took that it was a difficult spell to use, let alone on three people. Most students their age probably wouldn't even be able to pull it off. Yet Calum used it quite a bit when Ashton and himself had reason to sneak out after hours.

"Okay done." Calum sighed, taking a deep breath as he fell onto the bed. He looked exhausted.

Michael and Ashton exchanged worried glances.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Calum nodded, as he stood back up again, "It's just a tough spell for three people is all." He smiled, the tiredness quickly fading, "Shall we go? The spell won't give us long to get there."

With that the three of them quietly crept out of the Gryffindor common room and began making their way down the corridors and halls of the castle. Michael led the way showing them the way to a secret passageway that lead from their floor down into the library. Calum had decided to bring the egg with them in case they needed to identify it from others in the books they hoped to find.

Ashton always thought there was a sense of mystery walking around the old castle at this time of night. Corridors that they walked everyday held a certain magic that they didn't have during the day.

Soon they made it to the library. They were thankful to have not crossed any professors' paths on their way through. Michael lead the way over to the restricted section, before using an unlocking charm on the lock that normally kept it out of students reach.

The three of them scoured the shelves until they came across a whole section on Dragons. Michael found an encyclopedia of mysterious dragons and started flicking through it.

"Why's this book in the restricted section though? It looks like something pretty standard from Care of Magical Creatures." Calum frowned looking over Michael's shoulder.

Michael opened a page to quite a ferocious looking dragon. "My guess is that they only want like seventh years looking at it. So, the younger students don't get ideas about keeping dragons as pets."

"Like us." Ashton grinned.

"Exactly like us." Michael grinned back.

Under dim wand light the three of them started looking through the books. There were some important things in them about life cycles of Dragons. Dangerous dragons. Things that dragons ate, things they didn't eat. How to take care of Dragons.

"Aha!" Michael yelled, "Here's a Pygmy Celestial." He grinned, placing the book on top of the ones Calum and Ashton were reading, "That's it."

The diagram showed a small and a large dragon with pinkish purple and white marble scales. They grew to about knee height, much smaller than other dragons. It backed up a lot of what Michael had said about them eating lots of different things and them varying between individual dragons.

Calum held his wand towards the egg, the eggs were the same. It seemed Michael was right about this sort of thing.

"They're pretty rare though. They think there's less than ten out there." Michael frowned. "I didn't realise the numbers were so low, and this is older book so there could be even less by now."

"That must've been why that bird was protecting it or at least why it called me." Ashton frowned. "I wonder if it's even the last one left?"

"I hope not." Michael shook his head.

The three of them poured over the rest of the page, it explained a lot of things about the Dragon's temperament and about the care it would need once it hatches. It wouldn't be easy, but it seemed like they would have a chance of taking care of it.

"We still haven't thought of a name yet for when it hatches." Calum spoke.

"Yeah, we haven't."

There was a moment of silence as the three came up with names for the unborn dragon.

"What is that?" A stranger’s voice asks, through the darkness, causing the three of them to jump. Michael drops the egg from his hand, Calum barely manages to stop it before it makes free fall.

"Lumos." Ashton speaks as he raises his wand towards the voice. The wand brightens and illuminates the face of a painfully familiar blonde haired Slytherin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! ^^
> 
> While we're onto it, is there any suggestions or ideas for what the dragons name could be? ^^


	6. A Promise

A wave of panic went through the three of them as their eyes met with the blonde haired Slytherin who was staring right at the object in their hands. It was Luke, Michael’s worm of a roommate. Ashton's stomach sunk they were in trouble now. He was probably such a goody two shoes, he would report them to the Professors for sure. 

A million questions raced through the boy’s heads. What was he doing here? Who would he tell? How had he found them?

"A dragon's egg?" Luke grinned, "Sweet." He spoke before sliding into the spot beside Michael.

Ashton, Calum and Michael were dead quiet. Luke looked over at them in confusion as if it was totally normal for him to be talking to them.

Michael blinked at the newcomer, "You know about Dragon's?"

Luke shrugged, "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Though I'm wondering what you three are doing with one."

Michael, Ashton and Calum exchanged glances. All three of them were unsure what they could tell him. Michael had always said that Luke was a worm, he certainly wasn't someone that they could trust. There was every possibility that the moment he found out what they were doing he would take it straight to Professor Salamander.

"So, this is why you didn't come back last night, huh?" Luke grinned, not seeming bothered by the silence. He shot an almost knowing look in Michael's direction when he didn't respond, "I don't blame you. This is awesome."

"Uh yeah, kind of." Michael shuffled uneasily. It was clear from his expression that Luke didn't talk to him much like this.

"I wonder what kind it is. It's pretty small for a dragon's egg, so it must contain quite a small dragon." Luke continued, "Where on Earth did you find it?"

All three of them kind of just sat there as Luke continued fussing over the egg like an expert. Like he was properly interested, and they were friends.

"Gosh you're worse that I thought." Calum glared at Luke, with an icy gaze. Luke froze slowly turning up to meet Calum's eyes. He blinked innocently up at him as if he had no idea what Calum was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about." Calum continued, "You've been terrible to Michael and now you're talking like your best friends." Luke only blinked at him in confusion, so Calum continued. "What made you think it was funny to lock him down in the dungeons with a silencing charm?"

"Huh?" Luke frowned, he quickly shook his head, "Is that what this is about? I'd never do something like that." He frowned, "The other guys must've done it. I swear it wasn't me."

The three of them glared at Luke.

"I swear. First I heard of it was when you two came and asked me if I'd seen Michael this morning." Luke defended, he sighed shooting a sympathetic almost sorry look at Michael, "I know we don't talk much because I'm usually studying or practicing for Quidditch, Mikey but it wasn't me."

Michael just stared at him without speaking.

"I still don't believe you." Calum frowned when Michael didn't reply. "Surely you could've done something to stop them at least."

Luke threw his hands in the air, "I didn't even know it was going on. What do you want me to do? Take a truth potion? Show you the last few spells my wand did?"

There was silence among the four of them. Luke was being serious about this, was it possible he'd had nothing to do with Michael ending up in the dungeons.

"Well then explain what you're doing here in the first place?" Ashton spoke crossing his arms.

Luke blinked but nodded a moment later.

"Look basically I was wondering where Michael was again, so I snuck out of the Slytherin common room to look for him." Luke began, "I was just walking near the library when I saw the three of you sneaking into the library. I knew something strange was going on, so I decided to follow." He gestured behind them, "I was hiding behind that bookshelf, then I heard you guys mention something about dragons, so I thought I'd come and see what you were doing." 

The three of them considered Luke's words carefully. He had asked Michael where he had gone the night before and had seemed worried. Knowing that Michael snuck out sometimes it seemed reasonable that Luke would go looking for his roommate. The spell must've worn off just as they'd reached the library. Still uncertainty hung over the group.

"So, you didn't take Michael to the dungeon?" Calum asked slowly, his tone was cautious.

"No." Luke replied simply without even battering an eyelid.

Calum exchanged glances with Michael and Ashton who both shrugged. Michael hadn't honestly seen who had grabbed him except for their house robes, so he had no idea which Slytherin's had taken him to the dungeons. Calum and Ashton weren't sure either, Luke had seemed annoyed at the other Slytherin who'd joked about Michael being in the dungeons. 

It seemed they had no choice but to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. 

"Are you going to turn us in Luke?" Michael asked, his voice slightly trembling.

"Of course not." He shook his head. "A dragon's egg is so cool."

The three of them relaxed a little, it seemed that Luke was being rather genuine about all this. Perhaps this wasn't the worst person to have found them.

"In any case a Pygmy Celestial, huh?" Luke spoke gesturing to the book that was still open to the page on them, "So how did you three end up with one of these anyway?"

Calum and Michael's eyes quickly turned to Ashton. Ashton nodded and began explaining to Luke everything had happened that first night. Calum ended up adding bits and pieces in between. Michael explained how he'd found out about it afterwards and offered to help. 

"It called out to Ashton?" Luke gasped shooting a surprised glare at Ashton when they were done. 

Ashton simply nodded. 

"I've never heard of Dragon eggs or flying birds choosing people before, but it must mean you're meant to take care of it." Luke nodded. 

Ashton nodded. That's kind of what they'd worked out as well. He had no idea why he'd been chosen but he wanted to see it out until the end. 

"In any case, please can I help you look after it?" Luke asked, "I promise I won't tell anyone. I swear."

No one seemed to know what to say to that. Luke already knew so there wasn't much they could to hide it. The three of the guys shot uneasy glances. None of them trusted Luke still. Sure, it seemed he wasn't the one who put Michael in the dungeons. If it was true what he said about just being super busy when they were in the room and not just ignoring Michael either. He had also helped Hogwarts on numerous occasions. 

"Come on guys, I already told you it wasn't my fault Michael ended up in the dungeons." Luke protested. "I genuinely want to help with this, it'll be fun."

Calum was the first to nod, Ashton soon nodded as well. It was just up to Michael's decision. Michael looked to Luke. 

"If you weren't the person who keeps putting me in the dungeons, then who was it?" Michael demanded looking Luke directly in the eyes. 

Luke nodded, "It was Jake and a few of the other Slytherin guys, I think. They were all laughing about it and seemed disappointed when you showed up at dinner. I would've told on them myself only I didn't have enough proof. That shouldn't have happened to you." Luke's gaze was sympathetic. 

Michael nodded, he seemed to consider Luke's words for a moment. He looked to Ashton and Calum before nodding again.

"Alright you can help us. On two conditions. That you don't tell anyone about the egg and that you at least try to make sure nothing like that happens again. Do you think you can do that?" Michael proposes, crossing his arms and giving Luke a challenging look. 

Luke nods quickly, "Of course. I promise."

"Good." Michael nodded, "Now that you're here, I guess you could help us with some books. We haven't exactly got all night to read through them."

"Alright, where do I start?" Luke grins. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! ^^


	7. Quidditch Training

It was early Saturday morning and the sun was barely rising over the grounds of Hogwarts. Yet both Calum and Ashton walked across Hogwarts famous Quidditch pitch with their broomsticks and a few Quidditch practice items in hands. Ashton was dressed in his usual school robes whilst Ashton wore his Gryffindor Quidditch team ones. Calum was the Gryffindor houses Seeker and there was an important game between Gryffindor and Slytherin coming up the following weekend, so Calum had wanted to sneak in some extra practice.

Calum checked his robe pocket a second, third and fourth time to make sure that the egg was in a safe spot. He'd already re-applied a warming charm as well as several protection charms. Ashton had protested that it was overkill but Calum had insisted that they couldn't be too careful.

Mounting onto their broomsticks the two Gryffindors kicked off before they rose up high in the air. Ashton held onto a fake bludger, that wasn't charmed like the real thing. Whilst Calum held a Beater's bat. Calum preferred his job as a Seeker, but the Gryffindor House captain insisted that he practice all positions in case of an emergency and to keep the team in better shape.

Ashton didn't mind so much; he wasn't on their houses Quidditch team like Calum was. However, he'd been offered a spot on the team last year as the teams Chaser. Calum had tried to convince him at first to join. However, Ashton quickly realised that although he loved watching the game and training with Calum. He didn't want to play it competitively like Calum did. Although he wasn't on the team, he usually helped Calum practice when they could, though both had to admit their practice schedule had slipped a little with the arrival of the dragons' egg.

Ashton narrowed his eyebrows as he lined up the fake bludger with his hand. He put all the power he could manage into it. It took Calum a moment to register that the bludger was flying past him, as it flew past and he swung at it with the bat a moment too late. Completely missing it as it fell towards the ground.

"ASH! THAT WAS WAY TOO FAST!?!?" Calum yelled as he narrowed his eyebrows at Ashton as if he were the one to do the wrong thing.

"Come on, we both know that real bludgers can move way faster than that." Ashton rolled his eyes at his friend.

With an annoyed huff, Calum dived back down to the ground to collect the fake bludger. As he rose, he shoved the ball up in the air toward Ashton who barely managed to catch it. A moment later and he zoomed straight back up into the air to Ashton's level.

"Again." Calum declared, holding his bat stead and lining up the ball carefully. He wasn't going to let it go past him again.

Ashton narrowed his eyebrows, concentrating on making the shot. He wanted to make sure he was putting enough pressure into the ball to get it somewhere and make it difficult for him. Yet at the same time not to throw it so hard that it would knock Calum off his broomstick.

Though after several failed attempts it became apparent why Calum was a Seeker rather than a Beater. Calum hastily suggested that they switched over to practicing defending and scoring using the Quaffle. That was Ashton's favourite thing to practice so he was in no position to argue.

After changing the balls over, the two of the flew over to the white metal rings that made up the goals on the other side of the pitch.

The two of them decided that Calum would defend first and Ashton would shoot. Calum moved into a position in front of the goals ready to defend. Each of the rings was worth a substantial amount of points so it was important that the other teams Chasers were kept from scoring.

As it was Ashton's favourite skill to practice, they did this regularly. Calum was an excellent defender and Ashton rarely missed so it made for a challenging game. Ashton silently knew that this was one of the reasons the captain had asked him to join the house Quidditch team.

Ashton lined up his first shot, he decided to try a trick shot first. One that would make Calum think he was going for one of the other hoops when in fact he was lining up one of the others. He threw the shot and sure enough, Calum fell for it. The ball sailing straight past him and into the hoop. Ashton tried to mix it up by switching between both trick and normal shots, making it harder for him to tell what he was going to do. Calum was great too and managed to stop the Quaffle from going in a few times as he successfully predicted what Ashton was going to do.

Though on one go Calum didn't seem to react, the Quaffle soared right past his face as if Ashton hadn't thrown it. A second later and a surprised look crossed Calum's face. Confused, Ashton turned to follow his gaze.

Walking down the hill towards the pitch were two Slytherin students. Like they were, one was dressed in regular Slytherin house robes the other in Slytherin house Quidditch robes. Ashton quickly recognised them to be Michael and Luke. Both carried broomstick in their hands. Though Ashton couldn't help but gape a little at Luke's Nimbus 2020 which looked flashy next to Michael's much older worn one. They were talking animatedly as they walked towards them. Ashton took that as a good sign, he could only guess and hope that the two of them had bonded over the dragon's egg last night in the library. They'd been excitedly sharing facts and debating things. So much so that when the four of them had decided to call it quits and head back to the common room that Michael had even decided to go back to the Slytherin dorms with Luke Calum and Ashton were almost even a little glad for him that he and Luke seemed to be getting along.

Luke and Michael gave a wave up to them from down below. Noticing the abandoned Quaffle sitting on the pitch Luke tossed it back up towards them.

"Mind if we join you?" Luke called up as Ashton caught the Quaffle in his hands.

It wasn't a secret that the big match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was coming up the following weekend. There was a fierce rivalry between the two teams as usually one of them would be the house to take out the cup. Both teams had already played a few matches this year with both teams having already faced both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectfully.

Much like Calum, Luke was the Slytherin house teams Seeker. Ashton couldn't deny that Luke was good. He'd made the team easily in their first year, the youngest seeker and Quidditch Player since the famous Harry Potter many years before. Besides that, most people had dibs on Luke for being the Slytherin Quidditch teams captain from the following year when the current captain graduated.

A look of stunned hesitation crossed Calum's expression for a moment as he considered Luke's question. Ashton bit his lip; it was a tough decision as to whether to allow Luke to join them in practice. It could be good for Calum to practise with someone else and another Seeker. However, on the other hand there was a fierce rivalry between their two houses. Especially between the seekers. He looked to Calum; it was his call to make when he was the one on the team.

It seemed to take Calum a moment to decide. However, a moment later he nodded enthusiastically, a wide smile appearing on his face.

"Not at all, come on up." He replied.

Luke nodded, and a moment later both Luke and Michael flew up to join them on their broomsticks. Though it was amusing to see the difference between the two of them. Luke's broomstick was steady with the grace and skill of a Quidditch Seeker. However, putting slowly and wobbly behind him as he shot nervous glances at the ground below was Michael. Though he managed to hover quite well as the two of them made it up to the same level.

"So, what were you guys doing?" Luke grinned looking between Calum, the hoop and the Quaffle.

"We were just practicing shooting and defending with the Quaffles?" Calum explained to him.

Luke nodded eagerly, "That sounds good, perhaps we could even turn it into a mini game between the four of us."

"Maybe we could play in teams." Calum nodded in agreement.

Ashton and Michael exchanged glances at that, wondering just how the two of them intended to split it.

"Good idea, well there's four of us so maybe we could go two on two?" Luke suggested. "Wait maybe we could even do Gryffindor vs Slytherin."

Calum seemed to consider this idea for a moment looking to the silent Ashton and Michael for feedback.

"How about we swap?" Ashton spoke as he looked to Michael who promptly nodded. "It'll be more fun if we mix it up. How about Michael, you pair up with Calum and I'll go with Luke."

There were three mumbles and nods in agreement which Ashton took as a good sign that his idea would work.

Luke and Ashton took the Quaffle into their possession first as Michael joined Calum's side to defend the hoops. They decided on a rule that the ball had to be passed between them so many times before they shot it towards the hoops.

So, Luke and Ashton passed the Quaffle between them, when they reached the required number of passes the two of them kept passing until they saw an opening. Luke grinned shooting it straight through the right hoop past Michael's outstretched hand. Ashton and Luke gave a quick high five exchanging grins. The pair's domination of the goals continued as they managed to shoot eighteen out of twenty shots at the goal. Calum and Michael catching them both out the other two times, once each respectfully.

After that the two of them swapped so that Calum and Michael could have their turn at shooting goals. They lined up their passes and shots at the rings well. However, Luke and Ashton were both reasonable defenders and seemingly impossible to pass when put together.

"This is totally not fair." Michael yelled as Ashton prevented the Quaffle from going into the hoops a third time already, matching Luke's three as well. "You two are both really good." Michael sighed, gesturing hopelessly down at his broomstick, "I have enough trouble staying on this thing, let alone shooting hoops and blocking things."

"Well Ashton was asked to join Gryffindors Quidditch team, so I guess they do have an advantage." Calum replied, he gave a warm comforting smile. "You're not bad, you just need more practise is all. Look how much better you're getting."

Michael looked down at his only slightly wobbling broomstick. He nodded, looking only slightly convinced, "I suppose so."

Luke however didn't seem too worried about Michael, in fact it seemed he hadn't been listening to the rest of Calum's sentence at all. He was staring at Ashton in amazement.

"You were asked to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" He asked.

It was rather a big deal to even be offered to join the team as you needed to be an excellent flyer and have a keen eye. Besides only seven people were on the team at a time, so it was a rare honour to be asked.

Ashton shrugged as if it were no big deal to have been asked, "Yeah they wanted me to be a chaser, but I prefer watching to playing so I said no."

Looks of shock and surprise fell over the two Slytherins faces as if they couldn't believe that someone would pass an opportunity like that up. Calum just shrugged and insisted that the four of them continue with the game.

Just like that their game started back up again without any more questions about why Ashton had refused the position. When they started back up again Calum and Michael managed to score a goal each went sent the two of them into an excited frenzy. Michael almost falling off his broomstick. Calum quickly flew over to stop him from falling. Which broke the four of them into laughter at Michael's clumsiness.

Suddenly their cheers were ended by a long sharp blow of a whistle. The four of them paused, exchanging confused glances. Luke's expression was fearful as he gestured down below where there was a small group of students waiting down below. Each was dressed in Gryffindor Quidditch team robes. The Gryffindor team captain was among them, his eyes narrowing on Calum.

"CALUM HOOD, GET YOU AND YOUR BROOMSTICK DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW." The team captain demanded with angry animated gestures towards the ground.

Calum gulped, his skin paling as the four of them flew down towards the ground. It was clear as they made it closer that it was the Gryffindor House Captain, Will Evergreen with the two beaters of the team standing beside him. His face was red and furious. Steam was coming out from his ears.

Calum landed his broomstick safely on the ground with only the slight of wobble. The other three remained on their broomsticks behind him hovering just above the ground. One of the Beaters shot the three of them a filthy look but the three of them remained there.

Ashton was nervous of course. Calum didn't get in trouble off their teams' captain often. Yet he'd been to watch enough training sessions to know the way the Captain had blasted some of the other team members when they'd done the wrong thing during practice. He was getting a similar vibe now.

"What's the deal? I'm training?" Calum frowned as he met the Captain's gaze directly. Calum's annoyance was clear in his tone.

"WHAT'S THE DEAL?!?" The Captain yelled as he threw his hands in the air and gave Calum a hopeless look. His face was bright red and furious as he began to rant at him, "What on Earth are you thinking? Why are you training with Slytherins? We have a big match against them next Saturday and here you are training with them like best buddies? Worst of all it's with Luke their team's best player and seeker in decades?

Calum glared up at the house captain, his grip tightening on his broom, "So what? Luke and I are friends now? We're both Seekers. Why can't we train together?"

"You're friends with that snake?" The Captain shook his head in disbelief, before shooting a wary glance towards Luke.

Calum put his hand to his hip as he leaned onto his broomstick, "Yes, Luke is my friend. Do you have a problem with that?"

It took the Captain a moment to respond as he seemed to need a moment to come up with a good answer. For a moment Calum thought he'd made his point.

"Yes, in fact I do." Will growled in response, "I want those two Slytherins off the pitch right now, Hood."

There was hesitation in Calum's eyes. Yet he nodded solemnly. He knew what the Captain was thinking; that Luke was tricking him and planning to throw him off before the big game.

Yet last night it seemed that Luke had somehow ended up as their friend now that he knew about their secret dragons' egg as well. Calum didn't know how to explain why he trusted Luke now, but he thought he did. Besides Quidditch wise they were both Seekers, Calum figured he could probably learn a few tricks from Luke as well.

Calum heard a soft thump as Luke landed beside him.

"Look, surely this is just one big misunderstanding." Luke spoke directly to the Gryffindor Captain with his piercing blue eyes. "I'm not here to cause trouble. We both planned on training here this morning. So, we kind of came to the mutual agreement that it might be a good idea for us to train together considering." Luke sighed, "Basically what I'm trying to say is please don't be mad at him, I was the one who asked him if I could come up here."

At Luke's words the Captain gave a cautious glance between the two of them, before his eyes finally rested on Calum. "Fine, do whatever you two want. Though Hood I want you to remember I don't like or approve of this. You'd better be on your top game next Saturday."

"I will be." Calum replied through gritted teeth.

"Good." The Captain agreed, before turning and leading him and his other friends towards the other side of the Quidditch pitch that was left vacant. Calum could only stare for a moment before Luke shot him a warm comforting smile that Calum matched.

"Geez, that was intense is he always like that?" Michael asked as the four of them rose back into the air as Calum and Luke re-mounted their brooms to continue their game.

"Sometimes." Calum nodded exchanging glances with Ashton who nodded in agreement. They had seen the Captain lose his cool a few times on some of their other team-mates. Making Will angry was best avoided.

Michael looked to Ashton as they made it back up towards the goals, "Right, now I know why you didn't join your houses Quidditch team."

"Exactly." Ashton agreed, when Will had asked him last year, he'd been worried about getting yelled at too often. Especially as he hadn't grown up with the game like Calum and the others. He preferred helping Calum practice and watching the games from the stand.

The conversation ceased as the four of them resumed their game. After a few more attempts Calum managed to shoot another goal. Though Ashton noticed that although they were practicing too, Will kept shooting them glances from across the field. He sighed supposing that a lot of the other students at Hogwarts wouldn't accept Gryffindors and Slytherins being friends. Though he supposed the four of them had been brought together by that egg, what would happen when it did finally hatch? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	8. Consequence

Luke joined them at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall that night. There were hushed whispers around the Gryffindor table about their being more of them. As well as whispers about Luke and Calum having been seen training together on the Quidditch pitch that day. It didn't seem to bother Luke that as he sat down with them without even a glance at those who were whispering about him.

Instead Luke struck up a conversation about Quidditch. Pretty soon the four of them were arguing over who were the best teams in the professional league. Luke said that the Appleby Arrows were the best as they won a match that went on for 16 days. Calum however preferred Puddlemere United before rambling on about Oliver Wood who was a previous Gryffindor student being part of their team. Ashton declared that the girls that made up the Holyhead Harpies were incredible. To which all four of them agreed.

The time flew by so quickly that before they knew it the Great Hall was beginning to empty and they had to consider returning to their respective houses’ common rooms.

"You should see the Gryffindor Common Room, Luke." Michael had enthused as he seemed to realise what time it was. "They have this giant fireplace and these huge plush red lounges. The best part is that it’s up in one of the towers of the castle, so they have a killer view."

"That sounds awesome." Luke nodded in agreement, thinking of their dingy living conditions down in Slytherin, "I'd love to see it one day."

"What about tonight?" Ashton suggested, his eyes lighting up, "We still have at least an hour before curfew. You could come up and have a look and still make it back to Slytherin in time."

Luke gave a small slightly nervous nod to that.

Calum grinned, "If not, I do have a charm..."

"No more sneaking out charms." Michael shook his head, earning him confused looks from both Calum and Ashton. Luke blinked in surprise as Michael continued before whispering, "We were lucky last night that it was only Luke that saw us when the charm started wearing off or we would've been in major trouble."

"True..." Calum frowned, looking a little defeated. Ashton shot him a sympathetic glance. While it was true that one hadn't lasted like they'd hoped. Calum was still great with spells and charms; one not so perfect one didn't ruin that.

All in agreement that Luke should see Gryffindor tower, they begin to walk towards the looming doors of the Great Hall. However, it became apparent that something was wrong. A group of about five or six Slytherin students appear out of nowhere and block their path. The guy in the middle, Ashton recognises as the boy Luke had been walking with when they'd asked them where to find Michael. Though there was no friendliness in his eyes as his eyebrows narrowed on Luke. The four of them slowed to a stop.

"What happened to you?" Jake glared stepping in front of the group. His green eyes were piercing as he glared at Luke. "You've been spending all this time with all these Gryffindors and even a half one. Where's your pride as a Slytherin gone Luke?"

Calum, Michael and Ashton exchanged nervous glances. What would Luke do now? This was the first time someone had directly challenged him about hanging around with them. Jake and Luke were together a lot, so it was only a matter of time before he noticed and decided to make a scene. They were seemingly best friends. If Jake didn't like Luke hanging out with them how would that impact on them. 

However, Luke didn't seem flustered as he held Jake's stony gaze.

Luke simply gestured around him at the three of them, "I still don't see what the problem is Jake. We're all Hogwarts students, there's no reason we can't all be friends. What's the big deal if sometimes I go and sit at the Gryffindor table too?"

The group of Slytherin students surrounding Jake burst into roars of laughter. Luke didn't even flinch at the sound, he simply crossed his arms and frowned at them as if waiting for them to finish. Ashton was stunned but he supposed he couldn't expect any less from someone who was Hogwarts great hero.

"Unbelievable, you can't even see what you're doing is wrong." Jake spoke, as the laughter around them began to die down. He reached into his robes before producing his wand. A bright green spark glimmered at the tip. "Perhaps you just need some help remembering which house you're in."

Immediately Luke grabbed out his own wand directing it towards Jake.

"Luke put it away, you'll get yourself a detention." Ashton hissed at him, like he had many times to Calum before.

Luke nodded as he pointed the wand towards the ground. However, Ashton noticed that he didn't even try to put it away. He looked to Calum whose hand was hovering just above his wand pocket. Michael beside him just looked scared.

A wide smirk appeared on Jake's face. A second later and there was a clattering noise. Luke let out a sharp noise his eyes following his wand as it fell to the floor. Ashton noticed that one of the Slytherins behind Jake had their wand out and had clearly disarmed him.

Michael reached forwards to grab Luke's wand that had landed at his feet, but Ashton quickly shook his head.

Luke glanced back up again as Jake raised his wand muttering a spell underneath his breath. Luke barely managed a small gasp as a burst of green light emerged from the wand shooting towards them.

Leaping before them Calum yelled out a spell, his wand hand flying out from his cloak pocket as he stepped forwards. The green light seemed to hit an invisible barrier and the spell reflected onto its owner. Jake grew rigid as the green light engulfed his entire body. His features seemed to squish as scales appeared on the surface of his skin. A moment later and a dark green scaly snake was lying on the marble floor. The Slytherin students before them let out a loud shriek. Meanwhile Ashton and Michael tried hard to cover up their laughter. Luke however looked to Calum petrified. That could've been him lying on the floor being laughed at.

A loud click clack of marble came racing down the corridor. A look of horror crossed the Slytherins faces as they turned to the noise.

Young Professor Batts, their transfiguration teacher was racing towards them, her expression contoured with worry. She wore a witch's hat and had long black robes. She was also the current Gryffindor Head teacher. She paused on the outskirts of the crowding Slytherins her eyes moving between the snake as one of the Slytherins raced to pick him up, the wand at Michael's feet and the wand that was still held in Calum's trembling hand.

"What is the meaning of all this?" The Professor yelled as she shooed the crowding Slytherin's out the way.

The guy let out a yelp as the snake bit him, before slithering onto the ground. He slithered along the marble right over to Professor Batts feet. She gave the snake a fearful glance as the student cried out in pain. She looked at the snake sideways as he didn't move to attack her. Her eyes lit up with some sort of recognition.

"Oh my, who is this?" She questioned. As a transfiguration teacher she was clearly able to recognise when a student had been transfigured into another animal. Any other snake would've attacked anyone in their path including professors. 

"Jake Rosewood." Someone called out straight away. Calum grimaced.

Professor Batts seemed to consider those words for a moment. She looked amongst the crowding group.

"Just who was responsible for this?" She questioned, with a steely gaze.

Unsurprisingly every Slytherin's eyes turned to Calum, some even pointing. A surprised look came over Professor Batts face, though her expression fell as she noticed the wand in his hand.

"Calum Hood?" She questioned as if she couldn't believe it herself, "Were you the one responsible for this?"

Calum shuffled awkwardly under her gaze. Unsure what he was supposed to say. Technically he knew he was the reason that Jake had turned into a snake. Yet if he hadn't protected them then Luke would have probably been the one turned into a snake instead.

"Kind of?" Calum spoke nervously. Surprised looks crossed the Slytherins faces as if they couldn't believe he was even owing up to it.

"What do you mean by kind of?" Professor Batts frowned, seeming to consider his words carefully.

"It was in self-defence." Calum protested his voice sounding more desperate now. "Miss, I believe that Jake was going to turn Luke into a snake. I saw the light heading towards us and with barely a thought about it, I used a shield charm to protect us. That was all. I didn't mean for it to rebound on him like that. Check my wand if you don't believe me."

The Professor frowned but nodded. She took Calum's wand before muttering something to it. Everyone watched as the wand lit up with light. She sighed before nodding.

"I see. Though I hope I don't find the four of you in the middle of this kind of duelling again though." She spoke.

"You won't." Calum promised.

"Now I would ask you for some more questions Jake, but you're not really in any condition to answer them." She spoke sweetly a small smile playing on her lips as if slightly amused by the situation herself, "Now, if you allow one of the students to pick you up, they'll take you to Madame Pomphrey who'll help you to regain your form. Obviously, we'll discuss this later when you're looking a little more like yourself." She explained.

One of the Slytherins stepped forwards, scooping Jake up from the ground. Professor Batts nodded and the student began to take him towards the hospital wing.

"It is nice to see some Gryffindors and Slytherins getting along though." She spoke with a nod to the four of them, before turning to the other Slytherins with an almost disgusted look, "Maybe some of you could learn from that."

With that she bid them farewell and disappeared into the Great Hall. The Slytherins shot the four of them filthy glances as they slinked away seeming to know the show was over.

As they left the four of them looked between one another. Luke was a pale as a ghost, seeming to know he'd narrowly avoided being turned into a snake even if it would've only been temporarily. Calum looked a little shaken as well having narrowly avoided numerous detentions.

"Uh thanks for that Calum." Luke spoke, shooting Calum a warm smile.

"No problem." Calum grinned as he collected Luke's wand from the floor in front of Michael's feet.

"I'm just glad you didn't get in trouble." Luke nodded as he accepted the wand and tucked it back into his robes.

"Me too. I think I was only lucky it was Professor Batts who knows me. Had it been Professor Salamander it might have been a different story." Calum grimaced.

"True." Luke agreed. It wasn't a secret that Professor Salamander's punishments were the harshest in the school especially to non-Slytherins. The four of them grimaced imagining just what could've happened if he'd come along. It could've been a lot worse than detention. "Anyway, I'm just glad I wasn't the one who ended up turned to a snake."

"It was pretty hilarious; I don't think he expected it to backfire on him like that." Michael nods, with a small grin, "Serves him right."

"Exactly." Ashton agreed with a nod.

"Though I guess after that Jake and I aren't friends anymore." Luke sighed, he almost sounded disappointed. They had been friends since first year after all.

"We think he was one of the ones that locked me in the dungeons I don't exactly think he was good company to be keeping." Michael spoke quietly, though as everyone's heads turned to him, he bit his lip. 

"Yeah. I think him and the other Slytherins were doing it behind my back knowing I wouldn't agree. For your sake and who know how many others, I wish I'd realised sooner." Luke agreed, his gaze on Michael was sympathetic.

Michael nodded solemnly.

"In any case we still have time. Will we go have a look at the Gryffindor common room now?" Luke spoke seeming to want to change the subject off Michael and the dungeons.

"Good idea." Calum agreed still looking a tiny bit spooked by the events of the last ten minutes.

With that the four of them made their way up the staircases and up to the Gryffindor common room. Noticing Luke was with them the Fat Lady started protesting about allowing more Slytherins in here.

"He's not staying." Calum assured her, "He just wants to take a look then both of them will go back to their own house."

The Fat Lady didn't look convinced but let the four of them in anyway. They walked the small corridor between the door and main room.

"She's interesting." Luke spoke as they walked.

"Oh no, you should hear her sing." Michael pulled a face, "It's awful."

Luke shot a confused glance between the three of them as they nodded in agreement as they headed inside. Luke didn't dare ask any more about the singing.

The moment they entered, Luke's eyes lit up as he looked around the cosy space that made up the main room of the Gryffindor common room. A few students lingered, filling up a few of the couches. It didn't seem to curb Luke's enthusiasm though.

"This is awesome." Luke gushed his eyes scanning over the room. His eyes landed on the big window that overlooked the castle grounds and the forest. He bee-lined straight towards it. His eyes lit up like stars as he looked over it. He remained there for a while gushing about all the different things, he could see from it. How interesting it was compared to the lake.

"Do you want to see our room? It has an even better view." Calum suggested with a grin.

"Will we all fit?" Michael teased.

"It's only one extra person. We'll all fit." Ashton rolled his eyes. Sure, they had a lot of animals and it was the size of a shoebox but even with the three of them, Luke would still fit for sure.

Calum lead the way as they headed up towards Ashton and his room. He opened the door and Luke gave a scrutinising look around the room. Smiling as his eyes caught on the various magical creatures around the room. As Ginger pawed over to him, he brushed her fur. She made a content purring sound as Luke moved beside her.

"Oh good, she likes you too." Calum had spoken sounding almost relieved. Luke had looked a little confused until the three of them had explained about her only liking people she thought they could trust.

"Thank goodness." Luke spoke looking a little relieved himself. He grinned, "Though what would you have done if she didn't like me?"

The three of them exchanged glances having never thought of that. Calum and Ashton had seen first-hand what Ginger did when she didn't trust someone, she would either scratch them or stay on the furthers corners of the room until they left.

Calum shot Luke a teasing glance, "You'd never be allowed to talk to us again."

"Seriously?" Luke questioned looking a little horrified. He couldn't help but wonder how one cat like creature could determine what these three thoughts about people.

"He's joking of course We'd never do that. We have no idea why she does it, but she's been proved right on multiple occasions." Ashton chuckled noticing Luke's expression.

"I see." Luke nodded, wondering just what had happened that they'd worked that out.

The four of them hung around in the room for a little while. Luke moved over to the window and started talking about all the things he could see from out of it. Ginger had moved back to Michael and sat cuddled up in his lap.

"Okay so yes this is tiny." Luke nodded after a little while, he grinned at Michael, "We'll have to bring you guys down to see our rooms sometime as well."

"Yeah that would be nice." Calum nodded, "I've always wanted to see the inside of the lake."

"We'll take you down another night." Michael nodded. He let out a yawn, "Right now I'm really tired. Getting up so early to practise Quidditch was exhausting."

"It wasn't that early." Luke protested.

"For a Saturday it was." Michael replied with a teasing grin. "I had fun though."

"I'm glad." Luke smiled, though after a moment's pause he let out a long sigh. "Anyway, yeah Michael's right, we better get going."

Michael stood and the two of them started heading towards the door.

"Are you sure you guys will be okay?" Ashton frowned, worried that the other Slytherins would retaliate again after what happened to Jake.

"Hey if we disappear, you'll know where to find us." Luke teased. Michael shot him a look. "I mean yes we'll be fine. I'll place some protective charms on the door. We'll be careful."

"Okay." Calum nodded though he didn't look convinced especially with how Michael had ended up in the dungeons last time.

With that Luke and Michael bid their farewells as Calum and Ashton walked them right out to the doorway. When they were out of sight, Calum and Ashton returned up to their room.

"Are we going out for an explore tonight?" Calum asked as they walked back, usually Saturday nights were one that the two of them usually snuck out the castle the most. Especially as they didn't have class the next morning.

"No way, I'm not doing anymore sneaking out tonight." Ashton agreed.

"Okay good." Calum nodded, placing the egg on the cupboard, "Because I was going to suggest that we didn't. I'm exhausted."

With that decided the two of them started preparing to go to bed. Ginger was already fast asleep on the end of Calum’s bed. Calum and Ashton giggled, Michael must’ve worn her out or just made her sleepier.

"What you did for Luke tonight was awesome." Ashton smiled over at Calum after he changed into his pyjamas for the night.

"I barely knew what I was doing, I just saw him launch the spell and I reacted." Calum shrugged; he didn’t want to make too large of a fuss over it. Sure, he’d prevented Luke from turning into a snake, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

"Wasn't it funny when Jake turned into a snake though?" Ashton grinned.

Calum smiled smugly, "Of course it was. He totally deserved it. Even though it didn't seem like it was funny to me at the time."

"I thought you would've gotten in way more trouble." Ashton nodded.

"Professor Batts likes me." Calum shrugged. "I think I got lucky."

“Yeah, I guess so.” Ashton agreed. Calum wasn’t amazing at transfiguration, but he was always raising his hand in class and trying to get better at it. Professors tended to like that.

The two of them were silent for a moment as Calum put the egg into its spot by the window and they both hoped into bed.

"I'm really glad we can be friends with them." Calum smiled. “Luke and Michael, I mean.”

"Me too." Ashton agreed. “Who would’ve thought just because of an egg that we’d end up being friends with Slytherins?”

“Exactly.” Calum agreed, letting out a sleepy yawn. “It’s nice though.”

Ashton let out a small hum in agreement. A silence descended over the two of them.

“Good night." Ashton spoke, feeling his eyes get heavy. 

"Good night." He heard Calum softly mumble in reply as they drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	9. Quidditch Match

The week quickly passed, the four of them sharing the duties of taking care of the egg. Sometimes it remained with Calum and Ashton, other days it was with Luke and Michael. There was a sense of anticipation in the air as the expected date of the egg hatching grew closer. They'd spent a lot of their free time researching more about Pygmy Celestials and working out just how they were supposed to keep the dragon hidden when it did hatch.

Jake had returned to classes mid-way through the week. Though it was clear from the slight hints of scales on his forearms and legs that he hadn't completely recovered from his serpent transformation.

The week passing also meant it was time for the large Quidditch Match between Slytherin and Gryffindor to begin. Luke and Calum had been training hard all week and lightly teasing each other about who was going to win the match on the weekend.

As the four of the entered the Great Hall that morning for breakfast it seemed like everyone was up early that morning as the Great Hall was buzzing with life. The school was divided; many of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws donning one of the other two houses colours as they ate their breakfast. As they entered a few people came up to both Calum and Luke offering words of encouragement and that it would be their day to catch the snitch.

"But like who do we cheer for now?" Ashton frowned as they sat down in their place at the Gryffindor table, choosing to sit inside today. "Whilst I obviously do want Gryffindor to win. I also want to be able to support both of you."

Michael quickly nodded in agreement, "Me too."

Luke looked between the two of them seeming a little stunned that Ashton would say that.

Calum grinned, "I have an idea."

Michael shot him a nervous look which Calum seemed to ignore. He produced his wand tapping it on one side of both Ashton and Michael's shoulders. Much like the other night, the colours on one side of their robes had changed to the opposing houses colour.

"There you are." Calum grinned, admiring his wand work.

Ashton tugged at the strange green colour on his robes but nodded before speaking a quick thank you.

The four of them talked excitedly about the upcoming game. Luke teasing Calum that he wouldn't go easy on him just because they were friends now. Calum vowed that he would be the one to catch the snitch that day.

Soon Luke and Calum had to go and join their teammates in preparation for the game. Leaving Michael and Ashton to walk to the Quidditch pitch on their own.

"Let's go early so we'll get a good spot." Ashton suggested to Michael who nodded eagerly.

The walked the pathway across to the Quidditch pitch amongst the small stream of other students that were already headed towards the game. Some carried banners, many of them supporting the two teams' seekers. Ashton thought the two of them would love to see this. Though he was sure they would see them during the game. As Seekers they usually had a bit of time to fly around the field before the Snitch was found.

Ashton and Michael found a spot in the Gryffindor stands just as they were beginning to fill up with people who had clearly had the same idea to come early. The match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was kind of a big deal so everyone wanted to be there.

Trumpets sounded as the members of each team soared onto the field waving to the gathered crowd in the seating around the pitch. Calum slowed near the Gryffindor area met with loud roars by his housemates. He grinned, saving a special wave for Michael and Ashton. Luke didn't come over their way but from over the pitch he could hear the Slytherins roars of excitement as he flew past them. He may not have been popular amongst his Slytherin friends these days. Yet from the sounds they were making that hadn't seemed to kill off the enthusiasm of the rest of his house. It was easy to forget by being around him that he was still the school's great hero.

The teams gathered around the centre of the circle where Professor Polliwog, the schools flying instructor stood on the ground. A large box containing the various balls used in Quidditch sat at her feet. When the teams were gathered, she blew her whistle, releasing the magical objects into the air. The game began as the Quidditch players chased after their respective items. Calum and Luke’s eyes both followed the snitch high up into the air before launching after it.

It became apparent though that something was incredibly wrong with Luke's broom. Suddenly, it began to jolt and buck from under him, or when it wasn't doing that it seemed to be steering him off course away from the snitch. From his broomstick Calum looked back at the struggling Luke in alarm. Michael and Ashton tore away exchanging worried glances. Luke could fly perfectly well, what was going on?

Michael eyes scanned the crowd in alarm, his eyes pausing to the group of Slytherins that were pointing and laughing at him. Many of the Slytherins were pointing up in horror and worry. It was certainly out of place. Sure, enough he could see Jake standing among them, his mouth moving up and down with the words of a spell, his wand barely visible. He seemed to stop and a nearby Slytherin took over.

He clenched his fist and began yelling and pointing over in their direction. "THEY CAN'T DO THAT!?"

One of the Slytherin's nudged Jake and the other Slytherin pointing over towards Michael and Ashton. Jake nodded, giving the two of them a wave. They seemed to stop whatever they were doing now.

Michael and Ashton looked up again noticing that Luke had regained control of his broom. Calum flew over to him and seemed to mouth, 'Are you alright?' to him. Which Luke nodded.

The two of them searched the pitch having seemingly lost the snitch in that whole incident. The two of them continued flying around in search of it.

Two Slytherin's banked up on Luke on either side. Each of them shoving and turning to their broom into him and trying to make it look like an accident. Though from Michael and Ashton's perspective they could easily tell from their smug grins and the laughter from Jake and his group that this was no accident.

"NO. NOW THEY'RE DELIBERATELY TRYING TO SHOVE LUKE OFF HIS BROOM." Michael yelled loudly.

Ashton nodded, "They can shove and push one another but they can't be doing that. Especially not to their own teammate." Ashton frowned looking down at the referee down below, "I mean why isn't Polliwog calling a foul?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Michael yelled. Ashton beside him winced. Michael’s voice was still incredibly loud and in an almost panic as the two Slytherin players continued to shove and push at Luke. Would they really put their whole team in chaos just to help Luke?

"Michael you need to stop yelling; you're hurting my eardrums." Ashton shot him a glance.

"Sorry." Michael blushed, "I'm just worried is all."

"I am too. Don't worry." Ashton nodded in agreement his eyes watching as the two Slytherins on either side continued to push.

A moment later and Luke entire broomstick was sent into a spin. His hands slipped and suddenly both him and the broom were falling. Calum who was nearby, darted straight over towards him, diving after him with his hand outstretched. Michael let out a sharp yell and Ashton turned away. He didn't want to watch as Luke fell towards the ground. Gasps of horror erupted from the stadium and the student announcer was going into a panicked frenzy.

Calum was just meters away as he grabbed Luke's hand just as Luke managed to grab a hold of his broom. The two of them hovered in the air for a moment, heavily breathing as Luke dangled precariously below Calum broom.

The stadium erupted into cheers.

"TIME OUT!" Calum yelled, his breathing heavy as he guided Luke and himself to the ground. The Professor Polliwog looked to Calum in confusion knowing that he wasn't the team captain. Though it seemed considering the circumstances that she nodded anyway. She quickly blew the whistle that demanded all the players return to the ground.

Calum slung a very shaken looked Luke onto his shoulder as they landed. Calum shot an icy glare over towards the Slytherin team as they landed. Especially the pair who had been bumping Luke the whole way. Their smiles quickly faded.

The referee called both the teams captains over to him. He started yelling at the Slytherin teams captain who began to apologise profusely looking genuinely upset.

While they waited, Calum turned to Luke, "Are you alright?"

Luke nodded, his face as pale as a ghost. "Yeah but I just want to keep playing."

“Me too.”

Both teams remained on the ground for a few more minutes. The two who had been pushing Luke were sent off the field and replaced by two other members of the Slytherin team. When he was done talking Will, the Gryffindor team captain marched straight over to Calum. He gave a chilling glare at Luke.

"What were you thinking?" Will hissed, "Helping out someone from the other team?! You could've caught the snitch and Luke would've been fine."

Calum's knuckles grew tighter around his broomstick as his eyebrows narrowed on Will, "Luke would not have been fine.” Calum let out a long breath, as he glared him down, “He would've at least broken a few bones or worse died. It wasn't worth catching the snitch for."

"Whatever." Will snarled "But promise you won't do that again."

"I'm not promising anything." Calum glared. "If Luke or someone else on the other team needs my help again. I will."

Will rolled his eyes and stormed off going to talk to the other teammates.

Calum was surprised as the Slytherin team captain came racing over to them. She was a tall girl with long brown hair tied up into a ponytail. Calum was pretty sure she was a seventh year and was one of the teams Seekers.

"Luke are you okay?" She questioned, her eyes laced with worry, "I was over the other side of the field, so I didn't see what was happening. Do you think you can keep playing or should I sub you out?"

"No there's no need for that. I'm okay." Luke shook his head. Calum knew they were running out of players as well.

"Good." She spoke. Her eyes turned up to Calum, "Thanks for that, I only saw the end but what you did back there was incredible. Not many players would race to save someone from the other team."

Calum shrugged, "It was nothing." Though he knew it was kind of a big deal in the Quidditch world to help someone on the other team like that. He hadn't been thinking of teams, only of saving Luke. Though he silently wondered if that had happened as little as two weeks ago when he'd barely known Luke would he have done the same?

The referee decided that they could play. Quickly both teams began to rise into the sky, Calum and Luke joining them.

Up in the stands, Michael looked over realising that Jake and his group were missing from their spot. He could only hope that they had been caught tampering with Luke's broomstick as well.

The game recommenced, and Calum and Luke resumed their search for the elusive golden snitch. Nothing much else happened for a little while, both teams scored points and with each goal the cheers for the snitch to be caught grew louder and louder.

Calum was the first to see it, he made chase after it. Luke speeding after him from just behind noticing what he was doing. Calum flew along behind the snitch, reaching out of his hand. The golden ball was just out of Calum's grip as he continued to power along behind it. He had a few missed grabs, before he looked behind him at Luke. When he was close suddenly Calum slowed down, allowing Luke to overtake him. A moment later and Luke's hands were wrapped around the flying golden ball. The trumpets sounded as Slytherin broke into a roar realising that they'd won the match.

Luke grinned but shot Calum a confused glance, as the two hovered mid-air, seemingly deaf to the screams, "You almost had it? Why did you let me have it?"

"You deserved it, and besides I'm also proving a point." Calum spoke glaring icily down at their team Captain who was a little way below.

"Right." Luke nodded, seeming to understand what had made Calum slow down.

From there, Luke and Calum began to descend towards the ground to re-join their team-mates.

"What the hell? You had the snitch?" Will yelled at Calum as the Gryffindor team assembled on the other side of the pitch.

"Well maybe you shouldn't be so focused on winning and maybe I would've caught it." Calum glared back icily.

A few oohs broke out from the team.

"You did good Calum, saving the Slytherin Seeker." One of the chasers said moving to stand beside Will. "We didn't need to win anyway. Slytherin had already lost one of their games. So, we're still tied with them."

A few of the other Gryffindor team members nodded in agreement. Though Will and the beater next to him didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm as the rest of the team quickly marching away as the compliments continued.

The rest of the Gryffindor team started to head towards the changing rooms declaring Calum a hero still even though they hadn't won because of him. They shot icy glances at Will for yelling at him.

Meanwhile Ashton and Michael were discussing the match as they pushed through the crowds towards the Gryffindor change rooms. They'd both decided that they'd see Professor Batts or Salamander after the game about what Jake and the rest of his friends were doing if they weren't in trouble already. They couldn't do something like that and get away with it.

When they arrived at the change rooms, they found Luke and Calum were talking just outside the doorway between the opposing teams change rooms. They still were dressed in their team robes and had their brooms in hand. They smiled as they noticed Michael and Ashton approaching.

"Luke are you okay?" Ashton asked.

Luke nodded, "Yeah, a little shaken up but I'm fine."

"You know who it was right?" Michael spoke with crossed arms, "It was Jake and his friends."

"Why am I not surprised. Those two that were pushing me are his friends after all." Luke explained.

"Oh yeah and congratulations." Ashton added.

"Thanks." Luke smiled, "Though I kind of have to credit Calum as well. He's the only reason we won. You should've just caught it Calum."

Calum shrugged, "It wasn't worth it. It was better you caught it."

"Boys can I see the four of you for a moment?" Professor Batts asked, poking her head around the corner. She was dressed in full on Gryffindor colours today a small badge with 'Go Gryffindor' displayed proudly on her chest.

The four of them exchanged glances but followed her as she led them to what looked to be a small office within the Quidditch stadium. None of them had ever been in here before, but the walls were lined with pictures of various Hogwarts Quidditch players. Calum had to stop himself from gapping as he eyed pictures of the famous Harry Potter, Oliver Wood and Ginny Weasley.

Though the happiness in the room died down as Professor Salamander entered with Jake and his friends behind him. The four of them had to stop themselves from grinning hoping that they were all in trouble.

"I don't know what your boy’s problem is, but these petty incidents need to stop right away before one of you gets hurt. " Professor Batts spoke to the entire group, glaring between the boys. Professor Salamander beside her matching her gaze. "I would've thought the snake incident would've been enough to teach you a lesson but clearly not."

Professor Salamanders eyes narrowed on the group, "Yes especially when today I see Luke up there barely managing to keep hold of his broomstick. Only to find the whole group of you chanting incarnations and laughing like crazy. We don't tolerate that kind of behaviour in our school particularly when it endangers the lives of one of our students."

A look of alarm crossed the groups faces.

"You boys saw them as, well right?" Professor Batts spoke, looking to Michael and Ashton.

The two of them nodded, Professor Batts tended to be sitting in the Gryffindor stand with the students during matches so had probably heard Michael's yelling.

"I saw the same thing as Professor Salamander." Michael nodded, his voice sounding slightly anxious.

"Now if it's okay Professor Batts. The group of you are to walk up to me to my office where we'll discuss your punishments." Professor Salamander spoke glaring at the group of Slytherins.

"Fine by me." Professor Batts nodded.

Professor Salamander led the group outside of the room. Calum looked to the others who nodded as they turned to leave after them as well.

"Actually, Calum can you wait? I really need to speak to you." Professor Batts spoke. "Your friends are welcome to stay as well."

Calum turned and nodded. Knowing they probably should've waited to be dismissed first. She gestured for the four of them to take a seat, pulling up an extra chair for Michael and Ashton when there wasn't one.

"I also noticed on a number of occasions, particularly today that you showed excellent sportsmanship on the field. It was brought to our attention that Will wasn't exactly pleasant to you afterwards. In fact, we've been concerned about him being too competitive and harsh for a little while." She frowned, "Basically what I'm trying to say is that I was thinking perhaps it might be of benefit to have you as the team’s captain going forward."

Calum stared at Professor Batts open mouthed. He couldn't believe it. Him the team captain? The other three were all nodding to him enthusiastically. Yet Calum's mind was racing could he really accept it?

"Won't Will be upset though? After what happened today, I don't know if I should. He's still upset with me for saving Luke and later letting him grab the snitch."

"I'll be having a discussion with Will about his position. He needs to realise that his actions were wrong and learn from it." She smiled, "In the meantime for the remainder of the year I would like you to be the team’s captain."

Calum stared at her open mouthed, he had no idea how to answer.

"I'll give you some time to decide." She prompted when he didn’t respond.

A stunned silence fell over the four of them as Calum turned to them. He had no idea what to choose. He was worried what Will would say or do. Was he good enough to be a team captain?

"I don't know guys, should I do it?" Calum frowned looking between his friends.

"Yes." Luke nodded quickly, shooting him a warm smile. "You'd be excellent and there's still plenty of games left in the year. Don't worry about Will it will blow over soon enough."

"Beside she's right you know." Ashton nodded quickly. "Will can be quite unfair on you guys."

Michael gave a small nod, “If you want to, you should.”

Calum took his friends encouragement as a good sign. He sucked in a deep breath before turning back to Professor Batts.

"Have you made your decision?" Professor Batts asked.

"Yes, I think I have." Calum nodded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	10. Fracture

For someone that had lost Gryffindor the Quidditch match, Calum was treated like a hero for the remainder of the following week. When he passed people in the corridor or the Great Hall, he'd been greeted with a mixture or smiles and cheers. The whole of Hogwarts had seen what he'd done for Luke had seemed to want to show some appreciation for it.

Obviously not everyone was happy though. Jake and his group of friends would shoot glares towards the four of them across the corridors and whenever he found the chance. The other person who wasn't happy either was Will who Professor Batts had asked the past Sunday to pass on his captaincy in due to his poor behaviour and sportsmanship. This result now left Calum as the official Gryffindor Quidditch teams captain.

Professor Batts hadn't expected him to, but Will had also decided to leave the team. He'd told Calum that there were no hard feelings over the matter. Yet it was clear from the glares that he shot him as well that there was a lot more to it than that.

Problem with Will leaving meant that it had left a team without an official Chaser. They had a few reserves on the team but they were all either Beaters or Keepers.

"Ash, why can't you just join the team?" Calum had wined to Ashton as they went to bed a few days later after holding tryouts. "We need another player and all the people who've come to tryouts are terrible. They can't even shoot a goal if it's a meter in front of them."

Ashton had shot him a sympathetic look but had shaken his head.

"The egg is going to hatch any day now. I can't take on anymore responsibilities." Ashton had told him. It was tough. Sure, Ashton wanted to help Calum, but he'd already said no to the Quidditch team once. He wasn't about to say yes, just because his best friend was now the team’s captain.

"Please Ash, you're a million times better." Calum pleaded once more, "Besides, it would only be until the end of the season anyway. Then hopefully next year we can get a new chaser and you won't have to play."

Ashton shot him another glance, trying to end the conversation. However, Calum was looking at him with wide pleading puppy dog eyes. Ashton looked at him for a moment before he let out a sigh. He knew Calum really needed the help and he knew everyone thought he was a decent enough player. He couldn't stand the thought of Gryffindor losing the house championship just because they were a person down.

"Look..." Ashton started slowly and hesitantly, causing Calum's head to perk up, "If you keep trying and you can't find another player by the next game, then I'll join the team." Ashton explained, deciding to admit defeat just a little. He knew there was a good chance Calum wouldn't have found a new player by then. He knew there was high probability he'd be asked to play. Yet he also knew it was also the mid-season and Gryffindor still was in the running to win the cup. It would be a shame if they lost it now.

"Thanks Ash." Calum had grinned back almost knowingly.

However, a few days had passed, and Calum hadn't mentioned anything about Ashton becoming the teams new Chaser since then. Ashton hoped that mean that Calum already had someone in mind or perhaps he was just waiting until the match grew closer.

Apart from finding a new Chaser, Calum had been positive about his role as the team’s captain. It had a positive impact on the team as well. They seemed to like him being the captain and showed him a great deal of respect. Though as they sat down for lunch the next day in the Great Hall, it was clear the pressure of being the teams new captain was starting to get to him.

"Everyone looks at me like I know stuff like about making training schedules, game plans and everything." Calum sighs, "It's so difficult. I'm honestly getting a little tired of it."

"It's just because it new." Ashton assures him with a nod, "You'll get used to it soon enough."

Michael nods as well, trying his best to shoot Calum an encouraging look.

"I guess so." Calum frowns, letting out a long unconvincing sigh.

Luke shuffled in his seat looking as though he was trying to work out what to say.

"Maybe I could help you out." Luke suggests, causing Calum's entire expression to light up. Luke nods and begins to continue, "I mean Layla's been training me up to take over as Slytherin's captain from next year so I kind of know the basics. I'd be happy to help you get started."

Calum looked so relieved, "That would be amazing, thank you so much."

"Hey, you saved my life. I think I own you one." Luke nodded with a wink as he returned to his meal.

The four of them descended into silence as they ate their dinner.

The looks from the other students at the Gryffindor table had well and truly died down by now. It seemed Calum rescuing Luke had put the whole sitting at the wrong table idea to rest.

Ashton looked over to the Slytherin table and could see Jake and his friends eating their food with glum expressions. He was glad to see they weren't glaring in their direction for once. Though he knew they were still annoyed at them. From what he'd heard they'd earned themselves at least a month of detentions and even an expulsion warning. There was even a rumour around that they'd been put on a magic restriction meaning their powers could only be used for schoolwork related spells. Which seemed even more extreme now considering the age had been lowered for underage wizards, if you were over thirteen you could now use magic even outside of the walls of Hogwarts.

At least the four of them hoped it would keep them quiet for a while.

Classes continued for the day and when they were over and the four of them ended up going to the library before dinner. When they arrived Luke and Calum went off to find a quiet spot in the library to work on their homework. Michael and Ashton had some schoolwork to catch up on as well so they decided to tag along finding a spot in front of the stained-glass windows that looked out over the castle’s gardens.

Ashton was explaining their Herbology homework to Michael when he started to hear a strange noise. It was like a slight tapping noise in his mind. He looked around but couldn't see anything. Michael shot him a strange glance as Ashton continued to explain the homework like nothing was going on.

_'Ashton.'_

Ashton could’ve sworn he heard a name, but he was sure it was nothing. He was just hearing things. He persisted on explaining the properties of the different roots when he heard it again.

'_Ashton'_

He frowned as his name echoed over and over, something was calling his name. It was just like that other night when he'd first found the egg. Something had been calling his name that night as well. Yet it sounded different.

'_Ashton_.' He heard again.

Ashton's head whipped around expecting to see someone, yet there was no one waiting expectantly, no ghosts playing tricks on him.

"Ashton are you alright?" Michael asked hesitantly, his voice laced with worry.

It took Ashton a moment's hesitation to answer him. He noticed that his herbology book had fallen to the ground.

"Michael, can you hear it?" Ashton asked him, Michael looked confused, so Ashton continued, "It's like someone's calling my name over and over."

Michael shrugged, "No, but you were looking kind of spaced out. Is everything okay?"

Ashton sat in silence for a moment, listening for a sound that suggested that the name was still calling him. Great, he was hearing things now.

"Yeah, I guess so." Ashton frowns, not quiet believing it himself.

Brushing off thoughts of whatever was calling his name, he collected his textbook from the floor and began explaining the homework to Michael once more.

_'It's almost time for me to hatch. Be ready.'_

Ashton sat up straight. Was the egg talking to him? The thought was crazy but in the wizarding world anything was possible. Ashton quickly felt in his robe pockets, he didn't have the egg on him today. He hadn't been given the responsibility since he'd almost broken it. They never usually left it in the common room. He knew Luke and Calum had been sharing it around, but he hadn't seen it this morning. He looked over to Michael in alarm.

"The egg?!" Ashton yelled, causing Michael to jump, "Michael who has the egg?"

Michael's eyes widened in alarm, before his shoulders relaxed and he began searching through his robe pockets.

"Calm down. It's right here." Michael said, producing it from his robe pocket. Ashton let out a long sigh in relief as the speckled egg moved into the light. Michael quickly held it out of view so no one walking past would see as he began carefully examining it's surface. Usually at least one person would do it every morning.

Michael let out a sharp gasp that made Ashton jump.

"Wait is that a crack?" Michael gasped, putting the egg back in both their views.

Ashton looked over where Michael was pointing. There was distinct crack right through the right side of the egg. They both listened quietly where a quiet tapping noise could be heard.

Ashton nodded at Michael; the egg was on its way to hatching for sure. Michael looked up and the two of them exchanged grins. It seemed the egg would hatch at any moment. Ashton couldn't believe he'd worked out that the egg needed their attention. Though what had that voice been, it had sounded like the Dragon but that wasn't possible right? Could Wizards speak to dragons? No, he hadn't heard of that before. Though Michael hadn't mentioned it either. He guessed it was a question for another day as the tapping grew louder and the egg seemed to move right near where the crack was. Right now, the egg was the main priority. The two of them stared at it for a moment in wonder.

Michael nodded to Ashton, shaking him out of his daydream, "Quick, we better get Calum and Luke." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^
> 
> Not sure if this will happen or not but there may be a few weeks break between this chapter and the next one. ^^;


	11. Hatchling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting! Sorry this chapter took a while! ^^;  
Hope you enjoy it!

The four wizards tore down the corridor at great speed. Ashton was a few paces behind them clutching the tiny dragons’ egg to his chest. He had the egg carefully bundled between the fabric of his robes. He could feel the tiny dragon moving between his fingertips and the fabric. Surprisingly nobody had asked him to hold it, everyone was far more worried about getting the egg out of sight before it hatched. It didn’t stop people from raising eyebrows at they raced past.

By the time they made it to the Gryffindor Common Room, the four of them were exhausted. The common room was empty, making it an easy passage up to Ashton and Calum’s room. The four of them bundled into the tight space. Calum has slammed and locked the door shut between them. Ashton was sure he heard him mutter a protection charm as well.

Ashton removed the tiny dragon for his robes and placed it on the cupboard. The cracks in the rough surface of the egg were much more evident now. Luke and Calum’s eyes both lit up, they could see now that Michael and Ashton hadn’t been overreacting.

“I can’t believe this is finally happening!” Michael grinned, his eyes shining like diamonds as he surveyed the hatching egg, for what had been at least the tenth time since they’d discovered it was going to hatch. “I’m so excited!”

“Me too.” Luke agrees from beside him with a nod.

The four of them are silent for a moment, as they catch their breath.

Calum was the next to speak, “I wonder what it’ll be like. Do you think it’ll be a good dragon?”

“Hope so.” Luke answers with a frown, “Or it won’t stay a secret for long.”

“Pygmy Celestials are supposed to be pretty tame though. We should be okay.”

“If you say so.” Calum frowned, still not looking convinced.

Michael, Luke and Calum started discussing their theories about the dragon. Ashton could only nod to his friends. He was excited about the egg hatching as well. Though he was starting to have doubts about the whole keeping a dragon thing. This was a lot responsibility for the four of them to take on.

Ashton watched as Ginger made tentative movements towards the hatching egg that would move and jitter from side to side every few moments. The Kneazle cat slowly raised its paw to it, pushing it gently. When it didn’t seem to react, the cat seemed to lose interest and made a beeline for Michael’s lap, plonking herself down onto it before he even realised, she was there.

“Careful Mikey, I think she’s started liking you more than me.” Calum teased as Michael brushed her fur. She let out a small content noise. Michael simply laughed and shook his head.

The waiting game began from there. All eyes in the room were on the egg. Every few minutes it would tremble, the small crack growing larger and larger each time that it shook. After a while a small hint of purple scales peaked out from behind the cracks. It seemed to move almost rhythmically. Listening carefully the four boys realised in delight that it sounded like a breath moved in time with the egg. Excitement sparked between them; this was happening.

There were more taps, the crack growing larger and larger. More of the dragon’s purple scales were visible. Michael sat closer and closer each time that it cracked. Luke shot him an annoyed look.

“I can’t see.” Huffed Luke as he tried to look past him, “Mikey, you’re going to need to move or I’ll miss it.”

Michael rolled his eyes, before moving a little further back so that Luke could see the egg hatching as well.

Though Ashton noticed something else strange, that he decided not to mention to the others. Every now and then he could swear he’d hear a voice talking to him just like before. Sometimes it would sound like it was calling his name. Other times it would be seeming to remind him that the egg would hatch soon. He silently dismissed it, believing that noise must’ve just been coming from the staircase or the room upstairs.

For at least the next ten minutes no one’s eyes moved from the egg as more and more of the baby dragons tiny scaled form seemed to emerge out of it. A small lining of light purplish goo began to spread out from the egg through the cracks. The first properly identifiable body part was its tiny snout like nose. This was closely followed by spikes that seemed to emerge from the top it’s head. Then they could see its mouth and teeth. Then it’s tiny closed eyes. Pretty soon the whole dragon had fully emerged from its shell. Its intricate scales were a shiny purple and white that looked almost like marble. They seemed to glimmer even under the dim light. Its body was still covered in light sticky purple goo from the residue of the egg. It had tiny wings that were also covered in the unusual goo. Yet they were still tucked behind it’s back.

No one spoke and no one moved as the four of them held their breath as its eyelids wiggled a few times before finally opening. Its tiny yellow eyes looked around the four boys staring at in wonder. It let out a small yelping sound that made the four of them jump.

“It’s so cute!” Michael yelled loudly, after they’d all had a moment to recover. In response the other three boys quickly turned to him and gave him a loud shush in return. He ducked his head, giving a small shrug.

They stood in silence once more. No one seemed to know what to do next.

Calum was the first one to approach it. The dragon simply blinked at him. Calum raised his finger towards it, holding it there for a moment. The dragon tilted it head from side to side. Then a moment later it started to waddle towards him with a slight wobble. It placed its head right beneath Calum’s finger. Surprised, Calum gave the tiny dragon’s head a small stroke. The creature let out a small happy sounding noise. They all grinned the noise reminding them of Ginger.

Slowly Calum moved away looking at the dragon with a stunned expression. “Amazing.” He gasped.

No one else was brave enough to step forwards.

“Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?” Michael asked looking at the dragon curiously.

Luke nodded quickly, “I think it’s definitely a girl.” Luke explained, “You can tell by it’s colouring, the males aren’t usually so purple scaled.”

Michael looked back at the dragon and nodded, “Right.” He agreed.

After that brief discussion, no one seemed to know what to do now. Honestly Ashton was surprised that Michael hadn’t raced over to it already. He was kind of staring at it blankly now as if unsure what to do.

Sure, Ashton known he’d been doing the same. Yet there was something pulling him towards it.

Ashton stood quietly without announcement. He was completely mystified by the beautiful creature ever since it had hatched. He bent down towards the ground, his eyes meeting with the dragon’s watchful yellow ones. It seemed interested in him, it seemed to be following Ashton’s movements all the way over to it.

“They don’t bite, do they?” Ashton asked turning back to the others. He knew Calum had just patted it but that didn’t necessarily mean much.

Michael shook his head, "I don't think so. If you want to pat her like Calum did, only use a finger or two just in case."

Ashton nodded before he rose his hand just as Calum had done. He put one finger towards its head, and as it had done to Calum it moved closer towards it. Ashton squirmed a little as he noticed the slight sticky feeling to its scaly surface. Yet there was something pleasant about it. The small dragon seemed to let out a small sound in approval.

"Hello." Ashton smiled at the tiny dragon as it made a small sound.

_'Hello.'_

Ashton leaped back in surprise, quickly inching away from the dragon. He could've sworn it was the dragon that replied to him. It was just like that voice from earlier but much stronger now.

He could feel the other three had their eyes on him, but no one said anything.

"Her scales feel weird." Ashton spoke, trying to cover it up, as if that's what he'd jumped at. Calum gave a small nod in agreement.

Ashton moved further away returning towards his spot on the bed. Now that he was gone, the small dragon let out a whine. Something it hadn't done when Calum had left it. Ashton shook his head and moved out of the way, returning to his spot on the bed. Michael's turn was seemingly next as he took over, copying both Calum and Ashton's actions. This seemed to appease the tiny dragon. Maybe he was imagining it, but Ashton was sure he could still see it watching him. He was thinking crazy there was no way it was watching just him or that he’d been able to hear it.

"So, what are we going to call her? I mean she needs a name, right?" Michael frowned, pulling Ashton from his thoughts. Michael was looking down at the tiny dragon that was blinking up at him as he pulled away.

There was silence for a moment as the four of them looked between one another. They'd been so focused on finding out more about dragons and Pygmy Celestials that they hadn't even talked about names. What could they name her?

Luke let out a small cough, sitting up straight, "Well I was doing some research and I was thinking Kaidia might be a nice name. It's a Japanese name and it means tiny or small dragon." He suggested with a slightly nervous smile.

A name that meant small dragon, Ashton thought it sounded perfect. They knew that the dragon would only grow to a small sound. It sounded pretty but still kind of tough sounding as well. Calum and Michael's eyes had both lit up as well.

"That's a great idea." Calum agreed. "It suits her."

"Kaidia." Ashton smiled, "Yep I think it suits you."

_'I like it too.'_

Ashton blinked, this time that hadn't been someone from down the hall. Was it possible that dragon had just replied to him? He looked at the dragon suspiciously as it blinked innocently at him.

He heard something that time and it sounded like it was coming from the dragon.

"I'm glad you do." Ashton replied hoping that meant that the dragon would understand him.

At that the three of them, turned to him with looks of confusion. Ashton shuffled awkwardly under their gazes.

"I think she told me she like the name." Ashton told them.

_'I do.' _The voice replied in his head a moment later.

None of the boys said anything for a moment. They just stared at Ashton as if they were a group of muggles that he'd just told about wizards or the ghosts that haunted the castle. Ashton's cheeks flushed red, he knew he shouldn't have said anything, perhaps this was too weird even for wizards.

"Wait you're saying that you can hear the Dragon?" Michael asked with wide eyes. Both Calum and Luke gave nervous looking nods.

"Yeah, I think so." Ashton replied nervously as if it were nothing, "Can't all of you?"

The three of them exchanged glances.

"No." Luke was the first to reply. Calum and Michael both shook their heads shooting confused glances.

Ashton bit his lip. He was so concerned, why could he hear her when no one else could. Or if it wasn't her then what was it that he could hear? He turned to the dragon as if it held all the answers.

"Why am I the only one who can hear you?" He asked it.

_'I don't know.'_

Ashton let out a long sigh at that. The dragon had only hatched not even five minutes of course she would have no idea. Nevertheless, she spoke good English for something that had just hatched.

"Can you understand my friends at least?" He asked.

_'Yes, kind of, but you're much clearer and easier to understand.' _Kaidia replied.

Ashton processed the new information in his mind. So, the dragon understood him best and he seemed to have a way of communicating with it that the others couldn't hear. It sounded crazy but he couldn't deny what was happening.

He noticed that the other three boys were still looking at him expectantly. Obviously, they wouldn't have heard Kaidia's reply.

"I think she understands you guys, but she can't speak to you uh...telepathically? The way she can with me." Ashton tried to explain, "It's kind of like having another voice in my head that I can sometimes hear."

The three of them exchanged a mixture of confused and curious glances.

"Well that's pretty awesome." Michael was the first to speak, "I wonder why it's just you though?"

Ashton shrugged, "I don't know, and she doesn't either, but I can definitely hear her, and she can understand me best." Ashton continued looking over at the tiny dragon that was nodding at him, "She speaks really well, not like a baby. I guess maybe it's from all the time in the egg like she's grown up listening to us."

"It could be. Though I'd have kind of expected baby talk from such a little dragon." Luke nodded.

"Me too." Ashton agreed. He took a deep breath, “Though it’s probably a good thing right, guys?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. The only thing I am wondering…” Michael began with a grin, “Is whether this means you can talk to all dragons?”

All eyes were back on Ashton now. “Do you think I could?” Ashton asked, his voice going slightly high pitched at the thought.

Calum simply shrugged, while Luke and Michael exchanged glances.

“Let’s just say we’ll have to do some more research but it’s possible.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! ^^


	12. Care Of Magical Creatures

"It's called an Agonmouth." Michael yelled, half breathless as he ran across the grass from the castle. He looked among the blank faces of his three friends that had their collected breakfast in front of them. No one had any idea what Michael was going on about, but his robes weren't sitting properly as if he'd been in a hurry when he'd gotten dressed that morning. 

"What's a what mouth?" Calum blinks up at him.

It had only been last night when the dragons’ egg had hatched. After that Michael and Luke had returned to the Slytherin Common room, the tiny dragon, Kaidia had slept soundly in Calum and Ashton's room. The two of them were relieved that the creature wasn't nocturnal or like a human baby that would've kept them up all night.

Luke had met up with them early that morning saying he didn't know where Michael had gone, he'd been muttering something about the library and looking up something. They'd all worried that Michael had been taken to the dungeons again, but Luke didn't think so. He thought that Michael had truly left early too look up something and would meet up later. 

It seemed from Michael's reappearance that he was correct. 

"An Agonmouth." Michael let out a long sigh as he sat down next to Luke. The three of them still stared blankly at him in confusion as Michael failed to elaborate what an Agonmouth had to do with anything. 

"Alright, let me explain. If Ashton can talk to dragons, it probably means he's an Agonmouth. Which is basically someone who has the ability to speak to and understand dragons." Michael explained to the group, before pulling out a folded piece of parchment with writing on both sides. Ashton's stomach twisted a little.

"Michael did you rip that from a library book!?" Luke spoke pulling a face at the inked paper.

"A copy spell. I promise." He grinned at Luke.

Luke nodded but didn't look so convinced though he didn't further question him.

Michael carefully folded out the piece of paper. It had a whole section on what an Agonmouth was. Ashton scanned the words carefully, recognising some of the traits it had mentioned. Among other things it outlined about people possessing the ability being able to understand dragons and being the only one to understand them. It was like finding out he was a wizard again though this time it seemed more confusing and much rarer. 

"Says here it's closely compared to someone who can speak Parseltongue, which is someone who can speak to snakes." Michael continued.

"Like You-Know-Who?" Calum asked looking a little fearful. Luke seemed to shudder at the mention of the name.

Michael frowned, "Yeah I guess so."

"Who was You-Know-Who?" Ashton asked with a frown.

Calum shot him an almost horrified look, "You don't pay much attention in History of Magic, do you?"

"No." Ashton frowned feeling a little uncertain, a lot of the old witches and wizards in those stories tended to blend in his head.

The three of them gave Ashton a brief summary of who he was and the Great Wizarding War. He hadn't realised that Harry Potter was much more famous for that than making the Quidditch team. Though You Know Who had been a Parseltounge which was basically the snake equivalent of what he could seemingly do. Ashton was petrified at the thought. 

"Maybe we shouldn't have told you that." Luke frowned, noticing the expression on Ashton's face when they were done.

"Why me though?" Ashton frowned, "I mean both my parents aren't witches or wizards..."

"Don't argue with the magic." Michael teases, tucking away the piece of parchment. 

Ashton let out a sigh, he wasn't arguing with it. It was perhaps an amazing ability to possess. Just he wanted to know where exactly it had come from, it wasn't like he'd been around dragons his entire life or anything else that would explain it. 

"In any case, how is she?" Michael says changing the subject before Ashton could say anymore.

Ashton blinked before he produced the tiny curled up dragon from his pocket, "She's still asleep." He told them.

"Guess we wore her out last night, huh?" Michael grinned looking over the tiny sleeping dragon. 

"What are you going to do with her for the rest of the day?" Luke frowned looking uncertain, "What if she wakes up in the middle of class?"

"We'll take her back up to the room before classes start." Calum explained quickly. "It's probably the best idea."

Luke didn't look so convinced but nodded. 

As is she were listening, the tiny dragons’ eyes fluttered open. She blinked around at the four of them. 

Luke reached forwards to pat the tiny dragon on top of its scaly head. Ashton frowned noticing the steam from the tiny dragon's nostrils. A moment later a stream of flame left the tiny dragons’ mouth towards Luke's direction. Sure, enough a moment later, he let out a loud yell, as the sleeve of his robe caught fire. He waved it around frantically as if that would help put the flames out.

Calum was quick to his wand, performing a spell that drenched Luke's entire arm in water and doused the flames. A stunned silence fell over the group, she hadn't tried anything like that last night. 

"She breathed fire at me!?" Luke yelled first sounding almost surprised. 

"Of course, dragons breathe fire." Michael rolls his eyes, as Luke pats down the burnt patch of his robes.

Ashton's eyes were however straight to the dragon who was giving off a hum in approval. She sat innocently as if nothing had happened. 

_'What was that for?' _He asked the tiny dragon, being sure to shoot it an extra glare. 

_'I thought it would be fun.'_ It replied innocently. 

Ashton let out a sigh, of course a baby dragon would think it was fun to breathe fire onto people like that. He figured she probably didn't realise what it could do to someone because Calum put the fire out so quickly. If she were to do it again near people, they could get themselves caught easily. 

_'You can't do that to people.' _He told the dragon, like a parent chastising a naughty child. _'You could've badly hurt Luke. Someone might have seen, and you'd be taken from us.'_

The little dragons’ eyes seemed to widen in understanding. She seemed to shake her head, there was a certain sense of fear coming from the dragon. Ashton figured she was intelligent. It seemed didn't want to hurt Luke after all. 

_'Okay.'_ She nodded, _'I'm sorry.'_

A wave of relief went over Ashton, he was instantly glad for this ability or that might not have gone down so well. 

"She said sorry. I think she was just playing with you." Ashton grins warmly turning to Luke. "I've told her not to do that again."

"Good." Luke nodded, patting the singe mark on his robe. 

"For all we know though you could be telling her anything." Calum spoke with a teasing grin.

"Yeah, as long as that dragon's around, remind me not to get on Ashton's bad side." Luke added with an equally teasing grin.

The four of them and the dragon ate the rest of their breakfast in relative harmony. All too soon it was time to start heading for class. Michael and Luke waited outside as Ashton and Calum dropped the Dragon off in their room. They made a tiny bed on the windowsill for it out of pillows. Ginger gave them a curious glare. 

"Be nice to Kaidia." Calum told the cat, giving it a soft pat before they left. 

Ginger was a good cat, both boys were sure that it wouldn't have a problem with that. It was used to Ashton's weird and wonderful finds. Usually the cat stayed as far away from the new creatures as possible. 

With that Ashton told the tiny dragon that they would be back later that day. The small dragon nodded before falling asleep again. 

*****

The day passed rather uneventfully; Exams were coming up in a month’s time, so the teachers began to give them mountains of homework to get through. The four of them were relieved when they made it to Care of Magical Creatures, they rarely had homework as most of their studies were done in class. 

The four of them took their seats around the seating in the great forest. There were no strange boxes today which was unusual. Usually their classes involved some sort of Magical creature being shown to the class and they were required to study it.

Their teacher appeared, Hagrid, a big but friendly half-human half-giant. Ashton thought he was a great teacher, he seemed to know everything you could know about every kind of creature there was. He was always telling them interesting stories too. 

'Good Mornin' Class.' Hagrid spoke as he stood before them. Ashton noticed that he held a large box in his hand. "Today's lesson will focus on Dragons."

There were a couple of gasps and surprised expressions from the class. The four of them exchanged grins, it was perfect timing after all. Though they wondered had Hagrid brought in a real dragon?

"Unfortunately, we not allowed to study any real dragon' until seventh year but hopefully this will interest ya." Hagrid spoke producing tinier boxes out from the larger box he held. He pressed a button and a magical projection seemed to burst out from the box. There was a large gasp from the class as an almost real looking Chinese Fireball appeared, it breathed a puff of fire as Hagrid continued. "You’re to study em' and list the information from your textbook."

There were mummers and nods as each group went up to collect their box. Soon the four of them were studying the different types of dragons. Ashton realised rather quickly how dangerous most of these ones were. He was glad it was only a Pygmy Celestial they had found as they appeared to be the tamest out of the lot. Though he couldn't help but wonder if he could communicate with these Dragons as well? It was highly possible. 

Soon Hagrid was over at their group. 

"What if someone could communicate with dragons?" Luke asked, earning him stunned glares from the other three boys. 

Hagrid looked surprised, "It would be a very rare ability to possess. Only been a handful o' witches or wizards who can. Love to meet someone who could."

"Would be cool wouldn't it?" Luke agreed not even to look in Ashton's direction. 

Hagrid nodded before letting the boys return to their work. Suddenly all eyes were on Luke. 

"What were you thinking?" Calum hissed at Luke, dropping his pen back into his book. 

"It's okay nobody knows and Hagrid’s cool. Besides, I ask questions all the time. No one will know any different." Luke shrugged speaking in a whisper.

"I hope not." Michael frowned, "That might be true, but we still need to be careful."

Michael didn't need to elaborate on what that meant. Yet the boys knew there was a big difference between keeping a Dragon's egg and keeping an actual dragon. If the wrong person heard, Kaidia could quite easily be taken away from them. They could get themselves in a lot of trouble as well. 

Luke sighed, looking almost disappointed as Calum clicked to the next dragon, "Fine, no more questions then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the things I discovered while writing this is how hard it is to write Hagrid's speaking parts. He has a very distinct way of speaking that's hard to write? Hopefully his speech isn't too messy. ^^;
> 
> In any case, thanks for reading! ^^


	13. Missing

The next few weeks were spent learning how to take care of Kaidia. It wasn't as easy as the four of them had thought. The tiny dragon needed food and lots of it. Calum and Ashton had made multiple trips down to the Elves in the kitchens to ask for food. They didn't ask too many questions with Calum explaining to them that it was for one of the pets in their room. Which wasn't exactly a lie. The elves were more than happy to oblige finding whatever Calum asked for.

Much to everyone's relief Kaidia didn't set fire to anyone else's robes again like she had to Luke that day. It seemed Ashton's little discussion with her had worked. However, the same couldn't be said about the poor curtains in Calum and Ashton's room. Both had used at least a dozen mending charms this week. Ashton was certain by now that he could probably perform the reparo charm in his sleep.

Ashton was starting to enjoy the fact that he could communicate with Kaidia like he could. Even though it drove the others crazy that she couldn't understand them. It helped keep her a secret though.

They hadn't found any more information about what an Agonmouth was since what Michael had found the other day. So, they'd all decided to accept that they'd just have to see what happened. 

Much to Calum's annoyance, Luke had been sneakily asking a lot of questions to Hagrid about dragons during Care of Magical Creatures. He'd been asking a lot of questions about how long they lived, what was the best environment. Calum was worried that Hagrid would be getting suspicious, but he had just smiled and answered Luke's questions as if he were asking about a goblin or a house elf.

Other than that Luke had been quiet lately, he'd come and visit Kaidia but wouldn't say all that much to the other three. When asked Michael figured Luke was just tired from studying for the upcoming exams and that his parents put a lot of pressure on him to do well. Plus, there was an upcoming Quidditch match to train for. Calum had nodded rather quickly in understanding.

Between Dragon duties Ashton had been going to practice Quidditch with Calum. As expected, no other good players had come so Ashton had been forced to sub in as a Chaser on the team. Though he had to admit it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He'd been going to help Calum practice for years, so it wasn't exactly all that different.

It was a fine and sunny day outside as Calum, Ashton and Michael walked towards their first class. Surprisingly Luke hadn't shown up this morning, the fourth spot under the tree eerily vacant. When the Gryffindors had noticed Michael explained that Luke had been up since the crack of dawn claiming that he had something he needed to do. Everyone just figured he was studying in the library and didn't want to admit it to Michael.

Luke wasn't there yet when they arrived at Potions, but the three of them made do without him. Deciding that he must just be running late.

Yet by the time Charms rolled around in second hour, Calum was beginning to think that something was very wrong. He looked at the empty chair beside Ashton skeptically. It was possible that Luke was running late or had a meeting with a teacher. Yet it was already second hour surely, he would've realised, or someone wouldn't have kept him that long.

Calum looked over at the Scouring Charm Professor Flitwick was teaching them that cleaned objects. He'd mastered that one years ago, he could teach it to Michael and Ashton easy so it wouldn't be a bother distracting them.

Calum leaned over the desk, catching both Michael and Ashton's attention. "Where's Luke?" Calum asked them in a whisper, gesturing to the empty seat beside Ashton.

Michael blinked in sudden alarm noticing that his usual seat was empty. "I don't know, what I told you was what he told me. I haven't seen him since this morning."

Silence descended upon the three of them as they wonder where exactly Luke could be. They'd thought he was studying, but studying didn't mean that you didn't turn up to class. It wasn't like they had any large homework tasks that needed finishing either.

"Maybe we should check the dungeons just in case?" Calum frowned, though he hadn't seen the other Slytherins teasing him since they'd gotten into trouble at the Quidditch match. It wasn't likely that he'd be there.

Michael and Ashton seemed to consider his words for a moment.

"Yeah, you know what. That might be a good idea." Michael nodded with a grave expression. He'd been in that situation enough times himself to believe that it could happen to Luke. Especially now that he wasn't in favour with the other Slytherins like had once been.

They couldn't exactly leave during class, so they spent the rest of the lesson focusing on learning the cleaning charm. Calum did his best to help Michael and Ashton learn it. Yet Calum's mind was wandering as he imagined poor Luke trapped down in the dungeons like Michael had been that day. He'd hate to think that happened because of them.

Once it was first break and their class were over, they headed towards the dungeons. The three of them plugged their nose as they walked down the dimly lit staircase by the lights of their wands. It was freezing down there, still too far from summer to be warm. The three of them stuck close together, moving their wands over the room and calling out to Luke. Yet there was no sign of him. They hadn't been searching long when one of the school's ghosts appeared, asking them what they were doing. When they explained they were looking for Luke? The ghost had shaken his head saying that there hadn't been any students anywhere near here today before them.

Before their next class they went to check in the library and searched every face that was sitting in the great hall. They went to check on Kaida, but he wasn't there and when Ashton had asked her Kaidia said she hadn't seen him.

With no luck, they went onto their next class, History of Magic, expecting him to be there waiting for him, but there was no sign of him there either.

"Luke will show up eventually, I'm sure." Michael spoke hopefully, though he didn't sound like he believed it.

It was strange for Luke to go missing like this, it was like he had just vanished. Ashton wondered whether they should be alerting the teachers.

The three of them found it difficult to concentrate during their next class, History of Magic. They were all far too worried by that point about Luke's whereabouts. Professor Binns ghostly lectures seemed even more boring and long than normal. Around them, almost the whole class was fast asleep. Binns was so into his story he hadn't even realised he wasn't captivating his audience in the way that he hoped.

About half an hour in there was a knock on the door. Too into his words, Professor Binns didn't batter an eyelid or even make a stop for it. It was enough to wake a few people up there, many heads had turned to the back of the room. Ashton's eyes followed them finding one of the Gryffindor prefects standing at the doorway. Ashton blinked in confusion is was rare for a Seventh-year student to come to their class, much less a Prefect.

Looking slightly annoyed, the prefect knocked on the classroom door three more times. With an annoyed tone one of the Slytherins down the front of the room alerted Professor Binns to the persons presence in the doorway.

Only then did the ghost stop and allow the girl into the classroom. She strode across the room with a pink papered note in hand. She showed the note to the professor who looked over it for a moment with a grave expression before nodding. He looked around the classroom with a puzzled expression. He was famous for not knowing students' names properly.

"Ashton, Michael and Calum. You're to pack up your things and head to Professor Batts office immediately."

The moment their names left his mouth, every eye in the dungeon had turned to them. People were whispering and making oohing noises. The three of them exchanged stunned but confused glances. A wave of panic rushed through Ashton. What if this was about the dragon? Or even about Luke's sudden disappearance? Did Hagrid catch onto Luke's questioning about dragons and told Professor Batts about it?

Maybe it wasn't something bad at all. They were only going to see Professor Batts today and not the headmaster. Professor Batts probably just wanted to see how Calum and Ashton were going with Quidditch.

Though in that case why had she pulled them out of class and why was Michael involved too? He wasn't even on the Quidditch team?

Moving quickly the three of them began to pick up their things. Not even waiting for them to leave, Professor Binns had already started continuing his lecture. Yet most of the class's eyes were still on them rather than him.

Shuffling awkwardly the three of them began the long walk up to Professor Batts office. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! ^^
> 
> Also Merry Christmas! :D


	14. When The Egg Breaks

Three feet squeaked along the stone flooring as the three wizards walked up towards Professor Batt's office.

"Alright, honestly guys what do you think Professor Batts wants?" Michael whispered as soon as they out of earshot of the History of Magic Classroom.

"No idea." Calum frowned, he went silent for a moment as he thought about it, "I mean there isn't anything that would require the three of us to be there."

"Quidditch?" Ashton suggested. Professor Batts was the Head of Gryffindor and oversaw their Quidditch team. Now that Calum was team captain and that Ashton was also on the team as their seeker, maybe she wanted to see how they were going or something. There was a game on the coming weekend after all.

"Then why am I here?" Michael questioned.

Ashton let out a sigh, he hadn't thought of that. Michael didn't even play Quidditch let alone play on any of the house teams. This wasn't about Quidditch then after all.

"Good point." Ashton nodded, he thought for a moment more before frowning, "Hmm, I guess I have no idea either."

The three of them walked in a nervous silence towards the Professor office. Each of them was wondering what exactly the Professor wanted that would require her to pull them out of class, that couldn't wait until a break. Silently the three of them were worried that something had happened to Luke as well. No one had seen him for most of the day.

Soon they came to an ornate wooden door with Professor Batts name written in gold cursive writing. Ashton hadn't been in her office for years, not since first year. It was a strange feeling to be back here. The three of them stood there for a moment shooting one another nervous glances. Before Calum stepped forwards and knocked gingerly on the door.

"Come in." A voice spoke from inside almost instantly. It was recognisably the firm but friendly voice of their Transfiguration teacher.

Ashton swallowed hard; it was difficult to judge her mood from the tone. The words she used were neither kind nor angry somewhere in the middle.

Calum placed his hand on the golden handle and opened the door. Moving cautiously the three of them walked into her office. Ashton realised it hadn't changed much. There were dozens of books on the walls and a few different animals. His eyes scanned over them spying, a collection of Pygmy Puff's, a Moke and a Murtlap. It reminded Ashton a little bit of their room up in Gryffindor Tower.

It even had three large arched windows that gave a view right over the lake and towards the Forbidden forest. The sun was shining down onto the lake, making it look almost like a postcard. The teachers' desk was in front of it set out with papers.

Yet the three of them slowed and their eyes widened when they saw that Luke was standing beside the desk with another Slytherin that the boys had seen hanging around with Jake. Was this where Luke had been this morning?

Luke had his head hung low, his eyes looking towards the ground as the three of them entered not meeting their gaze. There was a large object sitting on the desk in front of the Professor sitting in her chair. The object had a pale-yellow bed sheet covered over the top. Ashton shot the object a confused glance as he felt a strange energy emitting from it. It was familiar but wrong somehow. Kind of like Kaidia. No, it couldn't be...Yet suddenly it was making sense as he put two and two together. No way, Luke couldn't have told on them, could he?

He tried to call out mentally towards the suspected dragon but received no response. Yet he couldn't help but worry it was Kaidia. It was the best explanation for why the three of them had been called here. Why Luke was here.

"I think it's her." Ashton spoke grimly staring at the sheeted object. He just hoped that he was wrong.

Michael and Calum stared at Ashton, seeming to come to the same realisation. They'd trusted Luke, perhaps even considered him a friend. Yet it seemed he'd been the one to sell them out.

"Good morning boys." Professor Batts greeted as if nothing was wrong, "I'm sorry to pull you boys from your classes but I have an important matter to discuss."

Maybe this wasn't about Kaidia. Ashton thought to himself, maybe this was about something else. Perhaps the three of them hadn't done so well on their last Transfiguration exam.

Yet all Ashtons hope faded as Professor Batts hand was already reaching towards the yellow sheet. She pulled it back a moment later, revealing the sleeping tiny purple scaled dragon underneath.

"Now would you boys like to explain this to me?" She spoke as her eyes moved carefully over the three of them.

She gestured towards Kaidia as Ashton's heart twisted. It was like a bad nightmare; this couldn't be happening. He had no idea what any of them were supposed to say that wouldn't land them all in a lot of trouble.

"It a dragon miss." Calum spoke, as if Professor Batts had asked an obvious question.

Professor Batts shot him a frustrated glance in return.

"I know that. Yet I want to know what it was doing in your room." She added, it was clear that the whole situation was testing her patience.

Calum gulped looking between Michael and Ashton for help.

"We had to take care of it, Professor." Ashton tried, knowing it was useless now that she knew they had been involved. "It chose me and- "

Professor Batts looked almost disappointed as she cut him off, "You know that it's against the school rules to keep dragons at school. Even ones of this size."

"I know, but you don't understand. It chose me professor- "

She wasn't listening anymore as she simply shook her head, "I'm willing to be lenient with you Ashton. Especially as I know you’re not from a wizarding family like many of the other students who attend here. But we simply can't allow students to keep dragons as pets." She sighed, "Believe me when I say it'll have a much better home in a sanctuary in Romania."

Ashton clenched his fist, it seemed helpless. Michael was shaking his head.

"You can't send her there!" Ashton protested, "I have to look after her. You can't separate us now. I mean I can even..."

Ashton let out a yelp cutting himself off as something crashed hard down on his foot. He looked down as Calum's foot was moving away. He glared over at Calum in annoyance. Calum simply shook his head at him. Ashton frowned, though realised what Calum was doing. He wasn't supposed to say anything about the whole understanding dragons' bit, not even to their transfiguration teacher.

"I can even what?" Professor Batts tried looking genuinely curious.

"Nothing." Ashton shook his head. He knew Professor Batts knowing he could communicate with dragons wouldn't help anyway. She'd already made up her mind.

"But you have to understand out of all the dragon breeds out there that Kaidia is harmless." Michael nodded, "I mean we've taken care of her these past few weeks and she hasn't caused any trouble."

Professor Batts shook her head, "I'm sorry but there's simply nothing else I can do. Honestly the best place for her is in a dragon sanctuary not in a student's dorm room."

Ashton wanted to argue that, but he knew it was useless. He could see the genuine sympathy in her eyes as she scanned over them. It was clear from the number of animals in her room that she understood what they were saying. Yet she wasn’t changing her mind.

"So, I guess you're going to expel us now." Calum sighed, having expected that would be the case if they ever were found out.

Professor Batts blinked at him as if he had just sworn at her, "Of course not. Though I'm disappointed to see you as part of this Calum." She frowned, "Your grades have been nothing short of exceptional and you've been doing a great job of managing our house Quidditch team."

Calum looked a little stunned and almost relieved. Michael and Ashton were both just as amazed.

"Instead I'll be taking 200 points each off your houses." She continued.

Calum and Ashton both let out a groan knowing that between the two of them they'd just cost Gryffindor 400 points. They were so going to cop it from their housemates that night in the Great Hall. Michael however seemed indifferent; he didn't seem to care about the loss of house points.

"I'm also expecting you to spend until the end of term in detention." She continued.

"Detention?" The three of them squeaked in horror.

"Just be thankful I didn't expel you boys, Professor Salamander probably would've." She continued, "But I also I understand it takes a lot of training and care to look after a dragon. So, I'm also awarding you 50 house points each.

Ashton was at little relieved that meant they'd only lost Gryffindor 300 points. Yet he looked at Kaidia in the cage, Professor Batts was sending her to a sanctuary in Romania. That was like losing a million points for Gryffindor to him.

"Is there any way we can keep in touch with how Kadia's going?" Ashton asked, quietly it was the only compromise he could make right now.

"We'll see." Professor Batts nodded. Ashton was still concerned but it made him at least feel a little more relieved, he had to hope that the Dragon Sanctuary would be a good place for Kaidia. "In any case the bell just went so you are to return to your normal classes now. Plus, I expect to see the three of you in detention this afternoon."

The three of them nodded. None of them were happy with the outcome. Though Ashton couldn't help but feel they'd gotten off lightly considering the circumstances.

"Luke, Tyson. Thanks for coming to me about this matter." Professor Batts spoke turning to the two Slytherins who had remained quietly on the side of the room. "You both may leave."

Luke hesitated for a moment, and the other Slytherin, Tyson pulled him along. A million curses were racing through Calum, Michael and Ashton's minds. Ashton thought for a moment that they should drag him into trouble with them, but it wasn't worth it.

"I'm sorry." Luke muttered as he walked past barely keeping his eyes up.

None of them answered, they just continued to glare as he left.

Professor Batts dismissed them. Ashton allowed himself one final glance at Kaidia who was resting peacefully. He sent out a silent goodbye as they turned and walked away. Wordlessly the three of them began to walk towards Care of Magical Creatures together. They all felt a mixture of defeat and anger especially towards Luke. Professor Batts had only been doing her job.

"I can't believe Luke was the one who sold us out." Ashton was the first to speak, "Especially when we were all just starting to become such good friends."

"Me either." Calum sighed. "I really thought he liked Kaidia."

"Exactly, what a traitor. His friends come back and he forgets about us." Michael huffed, "I told you he was a worm. To think I thought we were even friends now."

"I think we all did." Ashton frowned, "I wonder what made him tell?"

Everyone was quiet as they considered that. Luke had seemed fine about the dragon; he'd showed little sign of disinterest. Yet perhaps that's what he'd wanted them to believe so that he could pull this on them.

"You know what he probably wasn't even interested in the dragon in the first place." Michael growled, "Jake or someone probably put him up to it to start off with."

"How did they find out about it though?"

"He probably heard us talking about it in class and him and his friends thought it would be funny." Michael frowned.

"Yeah probably." Calum agreed.

"I don't know though; Luke did look pretty upset when he left. I wonder if something happened?" Ashton suggested.

"Nah. Probably just putting on an act." Michael shook his head. "I wouldn't put it past him to do that."

"Yeah." Ashton agreed, though more slowly. Luke had looked upset or maybe it was just the guilt of what he had done.

"In any case do you want to come and sleep with us tonight? I'm sure I can get you pass the fat lady again?" Calum grinned.

Michael nodded quickly. He turned back to see Luke was still standing watching them from the other end of the corridor. He couldn't believe that he thought they were friends.

"I wonder what Hagrid's going to be teaching us today?" Calum asked his voice sounding hopeful as he attempted to change the subject from the loss of the dragon.

"Hopefully not dragons." Michael spoke half-miserably knowing that's what they'd been working on lately. It was the last thing any of them wanted to learn about then.

"Nah, I think we're moving onto werewolves today." Ashton suggested.

"That'll be interesting at least." Calum nodded. "One of my cousins is a werewolf."

Ashton listened as Calum and Michael started talking about werewolves instead. Yet he had other things on his mind. Firstly, that Luke had betrayed them, he couldn’t understand how or way. But he had whether someone had put him up to it or it had been the plan all along. Secondly that Kaidia was gone. That bird or whatever it had been that night had seemingly chosen him to take care of her. He felt as though he’d let it down somehow. Yet right now as hard it was to admit there wasn’t all that much he could do except sit, wait and trust that Professor Batts was going to do the right thing by her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	15. Detention

"Two detentions down, like a billion more to go." Michael sighed as he left the detention classroom with Ashton and Calum the following afternoon.

"I've written, _'I will not keep dragons at school' _that many times, I'm not sure I'll even be able to pass our charms exam tomorrow." Calum moaned shaking his wand hand in dismay.

"If you're worried then I should be too." Michael nodded, "Because of this I missed studying for our potions exam."

"Ugh, there's that too." Calum groaned, running his hands down his face. "Why do they have to be all on the same day?” He let out a long sigh, “I mean I'm barely keeping up with Quidditch practice let alone my studies"

"I'll try and help you both. We can cram a little bit of both in tonight." Ashton nodded.

Ashton wasn't worried about Calum who could probably pass the potions exam without studying a single page. Ashton himself knew he was half decent at Potions so he wasn’t too worried about it. Yet he wondered whether the two of them could help enough to allow Michael to pass. He was pretty sure he'd heard Michael mention about being terrible at the subject before.

On the other hand, Ashton was a little more nervous about Charms, as he often managed to say a spell wrong or for it to not have the desired effect. Though he knew what Calum was saying between detentions and preparing for the upcoming Quidditch match they’d both been neglecting their studies.

It had only been two days since Kaidia had been taken from them. Ashton knew he had to forget about Kaidia. The little dragon had left a hole in his heart. He missed sensing when she was happy. Her delightful demeanour. It was amazing sharing that with such a tiny creature. He knew it was difficult for Michael and Calum but neither of them had been connected to her the way Ashton had been.

He already missed being able to share the tiny dragon with his friends. The nights where they'd stay up fussing over the tiny dragon. It had brought the four of them together but had also been the thing to tear them apart.

As they left Ashton could see the blonde haired Slytherin watching them from behind the marble pylons up ahead. The three of them exchanged glances, he'd been lingering all day. He'd still sat himself down with them in classes but hadn't spoken to any of them. He'd kind of just sat quietly next to them and spoke to them in mumbles. He'd wait for them at the end of classes but wouldn't approach them.

This time was different though Luke stepped right out in front of them, nervously twisting his fingers. He looked up at them, looking slightly frightened.

"Guys I can explain." Luke started.

Wordlessly the three of them exchanged glances. Michael quickly made a gesture that suggested they should keep walking. Calum shook his head, and glared Luke down. Sure, he was mad at him, but Ashton had no idea what to do.

"You could've at least stood up for us Luke." Calum glared at him, "There's nothing more to talk about, we trusted you and you broke that trust."

"You were just as involved as any of us and you don't even have to write _'I will not keep dragons at school' _for afternoons on end in detention." Michael spoke bitterly with an icy glare.

Luke shook his head, his expression one of guilt. Ashton remained silent, examining Luke carefully. He didn't look happy, almost like a shell of a person. There were tired rings around his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping much either. Whether he'd intentionally sold them out or not it was clear that it was getting to him.

"Come on guys. You have to listen to me. Ash?" Luke tried looking directly in Ashton's direction.

Ashton realised that Luke wanted him to come in and save the day. To be the forgiving and understanding one. To defend him and make the others listen. Right now, he wasn't sure he could do that. He wasn't sure how he felt about Luke.

Ashton shook his head, and Luke's disappointment grew. So, he spoke, "I'm sorry Luke but you betrayed us. No one was supposed to know about the dragon. You promised from day one you'd never tell anyone."

Luke shook his head, his expression more desperate now, "It's not like that I swear. Those guys put a hex on me and-"

"A likely story Luke. You blabbed, just admit it." Calum glared at him, effectively breaking him off. 

Luke let out a frustrated groan, throwing his hands into the air, "You're not listening to me."

"I'm hearing you loud and clear Luke." Calum frowned, "You can't hide what you did." He shook his head before turning back to Ashton and Michael, he let out a long sigh, "Let's go guys."

Calum started to walk away, and Michael followed straight after him. Ashton hesitated for a moment; he was angry with Luke but perhaps they should listen to them. He shook his head. No Luke had betrayed them. He couldn't give him that.

Luke sucked in a deep breath, "Look guys wait, what if I knew a way, we could get Kaidia back?" His expression was desperate.

Ashton froze, was Luke being serious? Michael and Calum did not look so easily convinced, both hesitating on Luke's words.

Michael shot a glare at Luke as if to say the words, 'You've got to be kidding me.'

"No way. She's probably halfway to Romania by now. There's nothing we can do." Calum spoke, shaking his head quickly. He dragged Michael by the hand and started leading him away. Ashton was forced with no choice but to follow them.

"If you'd just give me a minute to explain." Luke frowned, "She’s still at Hogwarts but she could be in danger."

Ashton paused at that, while Calum and Michael kept walking ahead.

"Wait guys." Ashton spoke, stepping back towards Luke. He looked into the other boys' eyes, that seemed to be pleading desperately for him to listen.

Calum turned around looking impatient, "Come on Ash, let's not waste our time much longer."

Ashton hesitated. Luke was still looking at him pleading for him to listen. Ashton wanted to know what Luke knew but he also knew that he had broken their trust yesterday by selling them out to the teachers.

Filled with confusion, Ashton took a step towards Calum, and Luke's face crumpled. For some reason Ashton wanted to apologise for the action, but he couldn't. He caught back up to Calum who gave him a raised eyebrow.

"I felt bad for him was all." Ashton shrugged.

Calum shook his head, looking almost amused, "Sometimes you're almost as bad at getting caught up with other people's feelings as you are collecting up strange animals."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Ashton laughed, though the laugh was empty and hollow. He knew what Calum meant he always seemed to feel bad for any creature or human especially when they were in trouble. That's what had led him into this mess in the first place and why they had so many magical creatures residing in their room. He just couldn't say no.

Yet this time, he knew he had to.

Ashton glanced back at Luke who was watching after them much like he had yesterday. Ashton felt guilty wishing he knew what Luke knew. Pity he also knew that they couldn't trust him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!


	16. Hufflepuff

With a week of school including potions and charms exams over, the focus of the entire school was the weekends Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. It seemed like the entire school was excited for the match. Especially as they were moving into the second half of the Quidditch Season. Which meant a lot of the games would decide who ended up in the final and won the cup for the year.

Ashton was usually excited about this time of year, eagerly helping Calum with his training. Excitedly talking about the upcoming games. Yet this time he was the one playing in them. It would be his first game and nerves were still fluttering in his stomach. Plus, always lingering in the back of his mind were thoughts of Kaidia been taken from them. The fear and worry that she might not being doing okay had been in his mind since Luke had approached them the other day.

Right now, the last thing he felt like doing was playing in a Quidditch match.

It honestly didn't help that since about six am, Calum had been pacing around their small dorm room looking completely stressed. He'd been muttering to himself about the team formations and the game. If he wasn't doing that, he was asking Michael and Ashton questions that clearly displayed his anxieties about the match. He'd already asked Ashton six times to go over his team formation again. It was clear he was struggling with the pressures of being the Gryffindor Quidditch captain especially now without Luke's help. For Calum, the loss of Kaidia was seemingly far from his mind.

"You need to calm down, Cal." Michael frowned, shooting him a sympathetic glance. He sighed, "I mean pacing the room a billion times isn't going to help."

Calum let out a frustrated groan before flopping himself onto the bed, "But Michael there's nothing I can do. I mean I'm certain that I have all the player formations wrong. The Hufflepuffs are just going to go straight through our defences." He spoke hopelessly, "With all this time we've been spending in detention I haven't even had a chance to look over them properly." Calum sighed, "Geez, Professor Batts is going to take my captaincy away from me before it's even begun."

Ashton quickly shook his head. "Cal, she's not going to do that. You've been doing an amazing job. Everyone on our team thinks so, especially on such short notice." Ashton encouraged, shooting him what he hoped was a comforting smile "The player formations looked fine for me. Besides if not we'll improvise. You can't really plan these games perfectly remember. I mean for starters you never know where the snitch or the bludgers will end up so it can change everything."

"True." Calum nodded slowly, though he still looked slightly unconvinced.

"Besides at the end of the day it's just a game right. It doesn't matter whether we win or not does it?" Ashton added.

Calum let out a sigh, "I guess not. It's just after what I did during the match against Slytherin, I kind of wanted to make it up to everyone by winning. Especially now that I'm the team captain."

Ashton nodded, understanding how Calum felt. Now that he was on the team, he wanted to prove himself too. Silently he wanted to prove that he wasn't the strange bullied muggle kid that he'd been in first year.

"You don't have to make it up to anyone." Ashton told him, "Everyone will understand, even if we lose. We just go out there and do our best. If we win. We win. If we lose. We lose."

Calum was silent for a moment before he nodded. He shot Ashton a thankful smile.

"Maybe they should've made you our team captain." Calum joked with a warm grin.

Ashton rolled his eyes but grinned back at him. "I'm pretty sure you need to have played at least one proper school game to be team captain." He spoke. "You've played dozens of school matches. Right now, my total is at none."

"That's right, it's your first game today isn't it?" Calum nodded, as if with everything going on that he'd forgotten. Ashton supposed that he'd helped Calum out that much with training over the years it hadn't made much difference him turning up for real.

"Yep." Ashton nodded with a nervous huff.

"You'll be great." Calum nodded, "You know I wouldn't have asked you to join the team if I didn't think you were any good."

"Cal's right, you're going to do awesome!" Michael grinned encouragingly, "And I'll be cheering for you both from the stands."

Michael paused at that and looked down at his robes in dismay.

"Though just give me a second to fix my robes." Michael grinned. He pulled out his wand a moment later. Just as Calum had done numerous times before, Michael tapped his wand on his right shoulder and this time all the Slytherin green fabric turned to the vibrant red of a Gryffindor.

"Don't forget the logo." Calum prompted gesturing to the Slytherin crest that remained on his chest. The green colour and snake contrasting with the now red colour of his robe.

"Of course...Uh..." Michael looked confused as he looked down at the logo. He waved his wand around anxiously as if unsure what to do with it. He bit his lip and looked up at Calum, "Though I don't really know the spell."

"I'll teach you the spell later, but for now..." Calum nodded, pulling his own wand out from his robe. He quickly changed the emblem as well to a matching Gryffindor one.

"Much better." Michael grinned excitedly, admiring Calum's wand work.

"In any case I guess we better get down to the pitch, the match will be starting soon." Calum nodded as he tucked his wand back into his cloak.

Ashton had never been so excited and so nervous.

*******

After going through all the formalities of a Quidditch match, it was finally time for the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams to come out to play. Ashton waited nervously with Calum and the rest of their team in the tunnel that lead out onto the pitch. Even from within the tunnel that excited chants and yells could be heard. It was certainly different being down here than it was being part of it. Calum turned back to Ashton for a moment giving him an approving nod as they waited.

After what felt like an eternity for Ashton there was a whistle, and the team walked out of the tunnel and mounted onto their broomsticks. Calum took off first in front of the group, welcomed by an eruption of cheers from the watching crowd. The team's keeper and the two beaters took off in front of Ashton. After them was the three chasers, himself and two others. One of the chasers was Hannah, a second-year student who was lightning fast and had made the team easily early in the year. The other was Carter, a skinny and lanky fifth year who was approaching the record for the highest number of goals in a Hogwarts Quidditch history. They'd both been welcoming to Ashton's addition to the team.

As they flew onto the pitch, the three of them separated making their own way onto the pitch and into the roar and excitement of the watching crowd. Ashton smiled as he flew around the pitch noticing that there was already a few banners and signs welcoming him to the team. He was grateful, though by the number of signs it seemed news of his addition to the team had travelled quickly. He flew around the pitch gazing at them all in awe as the Hufflepuff students flew out of the tunnel.

Yet Ashton almost fell off his broomstick when he saw one particular Gryffindor amongst all the crowd. He quickly realised though they weren't a Gryffindor at all. It wasn't even Michael in his colour changed robes. Instead it was Luke, sitting in the Gryffindor's section of the seating. He was dressed rather inconspicuously with his robes and scarf changed to Gryffindor colours in the same way that Michael had earlier. After everything that had happened, he was surprised to see him here. Especially with Gryffindor colours proudly displayed.

Ashton and Luke's eyes met. Luke's eyes went wide, noticing that Ashton was staring directly at him. Yet Ashton simply shot him an approving nod, in a move that surprised them both. Quickly realising his mistake, Ashton zoomed away shaking his head. He couldn't forgive Luke. He'd betrayed them, it didn't matter if he changed his robe colour to cheer them on. He was still the same snake he'd been all week.

The referee walked onto the pitch, and Ashton soon forgot about Luke as he moved into his position in the centre. He sucked in a deep breath as the referee unlocked the box that held the magical objects that made up the game. He knew any second now that the bludgers, quaffle and snitch would soon go flying into the air to start the game.

Sure enough a few seconds later, the magical objects flew from the box at high speed. As usual the golden snitch quickly disappeared. Though Ashton's eyes were fixed on the Quaffle as it sped around the pitch. He hung back for a moment as Carter and a Hufflepuff Chaser went zooming after it. Ashton's knew Calum's plan was to get Carter to take some early goals. He looked across from him to notice Hannah was hovering nearby watching intently, it would be time for the two of them to fly in soon.

Sure, enough a moment later and Carter had the Quaffle in hand and was flying towards the goals. Hannah and Ashton took off behind him, effectively flanking him. Suddenly though, two Hufflepuff chasers flew up in front of him. Causing Carter to grind to a halt. They were blocking him, whichever direction forward towards the goals he went one of them would be able to block. Carter was too far from the goals still to try to shoot either.

Hannah flew in front of Ashton moving to the side, she gave Carter a quick wave and without looking away from the Hufflepuff's. Carter threw the Quaffle back to Hannah who caught it easily.

Hannah threw the Quaffle into his hands. Ashton stared at it for a moment as if he didn't know what to do with it. He blinked a few times, before noticing the Hufflepuff Chasers approaching to take it from him. He wasn't far from the rings, that would enable him to score a goal. Narrowing his eyebrows, he zoomed high up into the air bringing himself level with the goals. The keeper that was protecting the goals was watching him carefully anticipating his move. The Hufflepuff Chasers were gaining after him too, he didn't have long to decide.

He took a deep breath, just pretending to himself that he was just practicing with Calum as he had so many times before. He lined up the goal in his vision working out how he could get the best angle and trick the Keeper into thinking that's where the Quaffle would go.

He released the Quaffle sending it flying straight towards the goal, time seemed to slow down as Ashton watched the Quaffle go sailing towards the goal. The keeper went downwards as the Quaffle went upwards. Sailing straight past the Hufflepuff Keeper and straight into the goals.

"10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" A voice yelled excitedly over the loudspeaker.

The entirety of Gryffindor let out a roar. Ashton was stunned for a moment as he looked out over the cheering spectators, scarfs and banners flying everywhere. He realised in shock that he'd just scored his first goal in an official house game and in the first five minutes too.

"Nice work." Hannah grinned, speeding away past him back towards the Quaffle which was already halfway down the other end of the pitch. Carter was long gone, already making chase after it.

Ashton forced himself to focus on the game. If they could gain up enough points it could still tip the game in their favour even if the Hufflepuff seeker managed to catch the snitch before Calum did.

Ashton zoomed through the air back towards Hannah and Carter, narrowly avoiding a Bludger as it zoomed through the air off a Hufflepuff beaters bat. Hannah was zooming through the air back towards the goals, though he could see a bludger heading straight in her direction.

"Over here!" He called to her. Hannah looked confused for a moment but passed the Quaffle towards him. As he caught the Quaffle he heard her yell as she narrowly avoided the bludger he'd seen earlier.

Ashton zoomed away as he flew back towards the goal. Though a few moments later he knew he was trapped as a Hufflepuff seeker flew up the side of him, another wasn't far behind. He saw a flash of a red Gryffindor robe as Carter flew past him on the other side, seemingly coming out of nowhere. He had an arm out and was waving to Ashton. Seeing his chance, Ashton threw Carter the Quaffle, he caught it only fumbling with it slightly. Carter flew towards the goals, the Hufflepuff chasers taking off after him. They were too slow though as Carter sent the Quaffle flying into the goals. The announcement came over the speaker erupting the crowd into bouts of cheers.

The game continued much like that, the three of them working together to score more and more goals. Sometimes it would be Hannah, other times it would be Carter and Ashton was much to his surprise keeping pace with them. Combined they'd scored over a hundred and fifty points already. The Hufflepuff chasers scored a few goals as well but their total was barely pushing the hundreds.

Ashton searched up high in the air where up above Calum was still searching for the snitch. It wasn't an easy job being the seeker, spotting a tiny flash of golden amongst all of this. He decided to focus on his job, helping the other chasers to score as many goals as possible.

As Carter passed him the Quaffle he passed it on to Hannah who went zooming back towards the goal. As he watched her disappear, he swore he saw a flash of golden that went soaring towards the ground. He focused his vision realising that it looked a lot like the snitch.

"Calum! Down here!" Ashton yelled, trying to keep his eye on the moving snitch, desperately hoping that his friend would hear him.

A moment later and Calum was zooming down in front of him towards the snitch. The Hufflepuff seeker following straight after him. Ashton had forgotten all about the Quaffle as Hannah scored another goal sending the crowd into a chorus of cheers once more. He was more focused on watching Calum chase after the snitch. He was close, but the Hufflepuff seeker was gaining on him. He needed to catch it soon. He noticed that a few of the other players and had slowed, watching what was happening. It was always an exciting time when the seekers were chasing after the snitch.

Suddenly Calum let out a triumphant yell as he slowed to a stop on his broomstick. He held the golden snitch high up into the air so everyone could see. The snitches tiny wings flapped up and down rhythmically as the crowd erupted into cheers. The whistle went off, announcing that the snitch had been caught and that it was the end of the game.

Along with the rest of their teammates, Ashton zoomed over to congratulate him. He was so excited, just because someone found the snitch didn't mean it was easy to catch.

"Well done!" Ashton grinned, the first to reach him.

"Thanks, though I might not have caught it without you Ash." Calum smiled gratefully, holding up the tiny golden ball and looking at in almost disbelief. He grinned, "Besides you were doing amazing out there as well, every time I looked over it looked like there was a Gryffindor Chaser scoring a goal with the Quaffle."

"Why wasn't he on the team earlier?" Carter nodded in agreement, flying up on the other side of Calum. Hannah flanking him on the other side. He turned to Ashton and nodded, "You did well Ash."

"I don't know." Calum grinned, "I'm kind of hoping he'll stick around."

Ashton cheeks flushed with red. It wasn't a secret amongst the team that he only intended on playing until the end of the year. Though he knew that Calum and the others wouldn't let him leave the team so easily now they knew he was decent at the game.

The whole team was filled with excitement as they celebrated the teams win all the way back to the changing rooms. It was going to be incredibly loud in the Gryffindor common room tonight. After getting changed back into his normal robes, Ashton walked outside towards where he was going to meet with Michael and Calum once they were done. He could see Calum in the distance talking to a whole group of about six girls that were Gryffindor first years. He looked a little overwhelmed by the attention. Michael was standing to the side looking amused.

"You played really well for your first professional game." A voice spoke from behind him. He turned to find Luke was standing there, still in Gryffindor robes. Noticing Ashton had turned to face him, he added, "I really mean it."

With those words Luke turned around and walked in the opposite direction as if he hadn't said anything at all.

Ashton was stunned. He wanted to tell Luke to wait. To ask him why he had sold them out like that. Why he was still watching them like he was. Yet his throat ran dry and the words didn't come. He simply stood there and let Luke walk away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! ^^


	17. A Second Chance?

It took a few days but the celebrations from the Quidditch Match were long over. Ashton was glad that they had won. Everyone was talking about Calum's amazing job at leading the team for the first time and how he had caught the snitch. Though the thing that surprised him most was people talking about their new chaser. He knew that Hannah, Carter and himself had worked well together but he hadn't been expecting that. 

Yet nothing could distract him for long though. Kaidia was gone and he missed her. He could only hope that she was doing okay. Over such a long distance he couldn't sense her, and he thought that was the part that hurt the most. Detention was a cruel reminder of the fact that she was gone. He'd tried talking to Calum about it. Calum was upset as well obviously but he'd simply done his best to be sympathetic and listened to Ashton. Yet there wasn't a lot either of them could do. Kaidia was long gone.

Things had started to change already between the three of them. Michael had stopped coming up to their room at night and had returned to his one down in Slytherin. He kept to himself a lot more, they only really saw him in classes and detention. He barely even showed up for meals in the Great Hall anymore. Calum was busying himself with training drills and strategies for the remaining three Quidditch matches before the final. Ashton had been practicing Quidditch more and more to be ready for the next game. Exams were coming up as well, so Calum and Ashton spent a lot of their evenings in the library once detentions were over focusing on that. Occasionally Michael would show up to, but it was becoming rarer.

"Calum can you stay behind please; I need to speak to you." Professor Batts declared that evening as she decided that detention was over for the afternoon.

Calum had looked a little surprised but nodded. Ashton shot him a concerned look; he was supposed to be helping him review History of Magic tonight. Calum turned to Ashton, waving his hand and promising he'd catch up. Ashton had turned to Michael hoping that maybe the Slytherin would join him. Yet Michael had simply shaken his head and claimed he had something else to do.

So, Ashton had set himself up in the library all alone. He looked at the clock hanging on the library wall, it had already been an hour since detention had finished. There was no sign of Calum yet. He could only suppose that his chat with the Professor was going over time for a reason. It must be important to be going on so long. 

He let out a sigh as he returned to his History of Magic textbook almost willing the information to transcribe magically into his mind ready for the test.

He heard a crash then an almighty shush from the librarian and Ashton's head shot up to see who she was annoyed at this time. He saw the hint of the green robe first. He looked up finding that Michael was standing at the entrance of the library giving an embarrassed glance as every eye in the room turned to him. Books lie at his feet that had been knocked off a nearby stand. He raced to pick them up off the ground. As the eyes turned away, he raced across the room straight towards Ashton and quickly sat down in the empty seat beside him. He was panting slightly, clearly having run quickly from somewhere.

"Ash you have to come quickly." Michael spoke in a yelled whisper. He looked around Ashton carefully, "Where's Calum?"

A Ravenclaw who was sitting nearby gave a stern cough as they shot Michael a glare. Michael lowered his head slightly quietly mumbling an apology.

"He's still with Professor Batts I'd assume." Ashton replied in a whisper back as he put down his quill. He raised an eyebrow at Michael, "What's the big hurry, anyway?"

Michael sucked in deep breath, as if he wasn't sure about what he was going to say next.

"Look Luke's in trouble." Michael explained.

Ashton raised an eyebrow at Michael. He was totally confused right now. "Since when have you cared about Luke, after what happened?"

"Since now, Ash you have to come." Michael replied, the urgency was clear in his tone. The nearby Ravenclaw shot him another unfriendly scowl which Michael promptly ignored.

Ashton viewed Michael carefully. Although he hadn't been around as much lately. He trusted Michael a lot now. If he said Luke was in trouble, then perhaps he was. Yet though if Ashton had to, he wondered whether he could really put his trust back in Luke as well.

He thought of that night walking back from detention when Luke had wanted to talk to them. The look on his face had been one of extreme guilt. At the last Quidditch match he'd still changed his robe colours to Gryffindor ones, he'd complimented Ashton on his Quidditch playing. Silently Ashton wondered whether the Slytherin had been telling the truth and had a hex placed on him. In a place like Hogwarts it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

"Ash, please." Michael begged, his green eyes were pleading, "I know we're all still upset after what he did. But he's leaving Hogwarts, he has a bag packed."

Ashton blinked. Luke was leaving Hogwarts. It was such an unusual thing for him to do. The more Ashton thought about it, he hadn't seen Luke hanging back with his friends either. He'd still came and sat with them during lessons, just had barely spoken. Was that why he was leaving? Didn't he have any friends here anymore. Part of Ashton wanted to say that it served him right after what had happened. Yet he wasn't sure what he believed anymore.

"Alright fine, I'll come. Though I guess I'll need to leave Calum a note." Ashton nodded.

Michael didn't argue as Ashton quickly scribbled down a note explaining that he'd left the library and that he had gone off with Michael and would be back soon. He left it on the desk, knowing if Calum came to the library later, he would find it. They usually sat in around the same spot.

With the note written and the extra glare from the Ravenclaw student that was trying to study, Michael lead Ashton through the halls of Hogwarts. It was rather quiet with most students either working in the library or up in their dorm rooms. There were a few students slowly walking their way back from the Great Hall though. Michael slowed when they could hear loud yelling. He peeked slowly and carefully around the corner. He gestured for Ashton to do the same. 

Jake was standing there, dressed in full Slytherin robes still. Luke was standing in front of him dressed rather casually in black skinny jeans and a hoodie. There was a large backpack on his back. Ashton quickly wondered where his robes were and why he wasn't wearing them. The only day they wore any different was on a Sunday or the occasional Saturday. It was still a weekday he was sure.

"Running away Luke?" Jake teased, "Wasn't fun losing all your friends was it?"

Luke didn't flinch. Yet Ashton could see the light of the wand that Jake held in his hands. Ashton searched for Luke’s, but it was nowhere to be found. Michael and Ashton exchanged glances, but both held back.

"Well congratulations you got what you wanted. I already told Professor about the dragon. I threw the three of them under the bus and now they all hate me." Luke let out a sigh, "What more do you want me to do?" Luke spoke icily with an equally as cold glare.

"That's exactly the problem Luke." Jake frowned, "You're asking all the wrong questions. You've changed. I mean you won't even hang out with us anymore."

"Things aren't going to go back to the way they were just because of some spell." Luke narrowed his eyebrows. "You forced me to tell on perhaps the only real friends I had." Luke sighed, "You've shown your true colours Jake and we will never be friends again."

Ashton quickly turned to Michael. A spell? Forced him to tell? Ashton wondered whether his theory had been right all along. If it was true, the three of them had been so awful to him for nothing.

A bright green light crackled through the corridor causing Ashton and Michael both to turn back to the scene before them. The green light was crackling straight out of Jake's wand and was hovering dangerously. He wore a smirk on his face, illuminated by the light of his wand. "Don't be so sure about that."

Luke's expression conveyed one of fear for a moment, before falling to a neutral glare. "Fine, turn me into a snake or make me into your puppet. I don't care." Luke narrowed his eyebrows at him. He outstretched his arms as if waiting for the green light to hit him. "None of it will be real."

Ashton quickly processed what was going on. The kinds of magic Luke were accusing him of was dark and horrible. It seemed Jake had been bullying him this whole time when they thought it was over. It was clear he was jealous of Luke or had just wanted him back as his friend.

"I have an idea." Ashton hand moved on its own reaching into his robe pocket for his wand. He saw Michael give him a stunned look.

Jake's wand raised into the air, and Luke sucked in a heavy breath. Ashton realised that he was running out of time, he needed to do the spell quickly.

"Furunculus" Ashton muttered directing his spell towards Jake.

As the light from Ashton's wand hit him, Jake let out a stunned gasp as he was hit slightly backwards from the force of his spell. The green light from his wand flew, hitting the wall rather than Luke. Jake began to scream as his entire face and body began to bubble and redden before developing into millions of large pussy boils. They grew rapidly covering his face and mouth. Ashton bit his lip; the spell had worked a lot better than he had thought it would. Luke had his eyes open and stared at Jake in stunned shock.

Michael turned and raised a smug eyebrow at Ashton, "That spell really?"

Ashton shrugged, "I never said I was good at the spell." He smiled, "Though at least it didn't hit Luke."

"No way you did an awesome job. That creeps going to be in with Madame Pomphrey for weeks." Michael chucked as Jake grabbed at his skin as if he could pull the boils off with his bare hands.

Ashton grinned, slightly amused. Especially considering he knew getting rid of that spell would be a lot harder than the snake one. It would be a lot more painful as well. 

Michael raised his own wand directing it at Jake. He mumbled a few words that weren't a counter spell but sounded like something to slow it down. Ashton shot him a disappointed look. Michael grinned back, "You do want him to actually get back to Madame Pomphrey, don't you?"

"True." Ashton nodded though he was slightly disappointed.

Jake's boils seemed to reduce slightly and didn't seem to grow much further. Yet he let out a yell at Luke before he started racing in the opposite direction towards the medical wing.

Luke watched him race down the corridor in horrified amazement, before hiking the backpack onto his shoulder. He gave a quick look around before starting to walk again. Ashton and Michael figured that he hadn't seen them.

"Levicorpus" A voice yelled.

Suddenly Luke was lifted up from the ground by his legs he let out a yelp as he dangled in mid-air. Ashton and Michael exchanged stunned glances. Who'd done that? One of Jake's little friends who had seen everything?

A moment later and a person dressed in a Gryffindor robe emerged from another end of the corridor. Ashton realised quickly that it was Calum. His eyes were on Luke and his glare was icy. From the look on his face he didn't think he'd heard what Luke had said. Ashton was tempted to run out and tell him it was a mistake, but Michael shook his head.

"Put me down, Hood." Luke glared at Calum, who still had his wand pointed towards him keeping him up in the air.

Calum ignored the question. "Where are you running off to dressed like that? Please don't tell me you're trying to run away from Hogwarts, are you?"

Luke let out an annoyed huff, "Put me down and I'll explain everything."

"No." Calum narrowed his eyebrows, keeping his wand raised, "I don't trust you, especially after what I saw you to do to Jake. I know you're just as much of a snake as the rest of them."

"That wasn't me. It was someone else." Luke protested, "I think that other person is gone now though."

Ashton and Michael exchanged glances. Luke didn't realise it was them, it seemed. Michael nodded. 

"Actually, we're right here." Michael stepped forwards. Both Luke and Calum looked at him in surprise as Ashton trailed after him. "Ashton did the spell, not Luke.” He explained, “Besides you’re being too harsh on him, I think Luke's telling the truth. Jake really did put a spell on him."

Calum hesitated for a moment. He looked at Ashton carefully, noticing that Ashton's wand was still in his hand. A look of almost relief crossed Luke's face.

"I should've known whose wand work that was." Calum smirked, "You overdid it a little, Ash."

"I know." Ashton spoke with a sigh, "But it got Jake away didn't it?"

Calum nodded, looking amused. 

"In any case, what's this Michael's saying about some spell?" Calum spoke turning back up to Luke who was still dangling mid-air.

"It's as exactly as I tried to tell you." Luke spoke. "Look I'll explain everything if you bring me back to the ground."

Calum looked sceptical but lowered Luke gently back towards the ground. "Explain away." He said.

Luke nodded and began to speak, "It started a couple of weeks ago, not long after the snake incident. Jake and his friends were following me when I was alone, seeing what I was doing. Soon they started threatening me because I wasn't hanging out with them anymore. I just thought that would be it. If I ignored them that they'd eventually give up and go away."

"But they didn't?" Michael guessed, looking slightly sympathetic.

"No, they didn't." Luke agreed. "A few days after Kaidia was born Jake came to me again claiming he knew about the Dragon and he threatened to tell the Professors about her. I was looking for loopholes and everything to allow Kaidia to be able to stay with us if they found out. I obviously didn't find much, only about the Dragon Sanctuary's around the world." Luke explained. "I just hoped that Jake's words were only threats. I don't know how Jake found out about the dragon, but he knew what he was doing."

Ashton was surprised, Luke had known about this but hadn't said anything. Perhaps he didn't want to scare them that he thought he could find a solution on his own.

"That morning Jake and his friends cornered me. They forced me to tell on you guys. I didn't want to do it." Luke continued.

"We have to tell Professor Batts what happened. They can't use that spell at school." Calum shook his head.

"It's not worth it, besides I have a bigger plan right now." Luke spoke.

Calum, Ashton and Michael exchanged confused glances.

"Kaidia has been with Hagrid for the past week or so." Luke explained, "Someone came for her yesterday to take her to the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania, but I think something went wrong. People from Hogsmeade reported seeing a flash of light near the Forbidden Forest. The van was left empty and trashed, people and dragons all gone."

Luke pulled a copy of The Daily Prophet from his backpack. He passed it around the other three wizards. The article outlined a mysterious attack on a van on route for the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania. It was believed that there were up to five dragons onboard at the time of the attack. It had been intercepted just outside of the Forbidden Forest. Right near the castle.

"It's her it has to be."

There was an image of a parked truck, toppled over. Ministry of Magic officials could be seen studying the vehicle. Ashton was silent, he felt sick to the stomach. It was easier thinking that she was happily in a Dragons Sanctuary then this. Though he was slightly worried, he'd found Kaidia in the Forbidden Forest. What if whatever he was supposed to be protecting her from had been the one to kidnap her and the other dragons. 

"So, she didn't make it to Romania after all?" Calum frowned.

"I guess not." Luke frowned.

"So, what do we do now then?" Michael frowned, "She must be so scared."

"I was going to try and find her by starting in the Forbidden Forest." Luke spoke. "If we can't bring her back here at least we can try to help get her to Romania."

The three of them stared at him. Luke was planning to go into the Forbidden Forest alone?! 

"Wait, I'm coming with you then." Ashton spoke, "I'll be able to sense the missing dragons, so it'll make it easier to find them."

"If you're going then I am as well." Michael nodded.

"You guys really think I'm going to stay behind?" Calum smiled at them.

"Of course not." Ashton nodded.

"Let's go talk to Hagrid. If you say he was the one looking after her before the van came. He might be able to tell us something about who came to collect her." Michael suggested. 

"Good idea, I trust Hagrid. He's been letting me see Kaidia this whole time. He couldn't believe it that the four of us had been looking after her." Luke explained.

"You've been in contact with Kaidia still and you didn't tell us?" Ashton glared at him, a wave of anger coming over him.

"I did try to tell you guys." Luke shrugged. "But none of you would listen to me."

"Alright then. I'm really sorry we didn't believe you Luke about the hex or the dragons." Ashton spoke, instantly deflating in realisation, "I should've listened."

Luke shrugged, "It's okay, I guess. I can understand how it would've looked on your end. I promised not to tell anyone and then I did."

"We know now that you didn't mean to." Michael nodded, "It's okay Luke."

“Me too. I believe you now.” Calum sighed, “I’m sorry for what I said.”

Luke nodded silently.

“So, I guess the plan is we go see Hagrid first and then we work out the rest of our plan from there, right?” Michael asked.

"Sounds good." Ashton agreed. He just hoped Hagrid could help them as much as they wanted, or he wasn’t sure what they were going to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	18. The Hut By The Forest

With a plan in mind. The four of them snuck out through the secret passageway in the Gryffindor common room. Michael and Luke had both walked through the passageway wide eyed as Ashton and Calum had led the way. It seemed neither of the Slytherin's had even known about it.

Once they were out of the castle walls, the four of them raced through the moonlight towards the bottom of the hill. They decided to take the winding path that lead down the side of the castle.

Soon Hagrid's round hut was in the distance. Unlike a lot of the professors' Hagrid didn't live in the castle. Instead he lived in a quaint little building on the edge of the forbidden forest. It looked like two hexagonal prisms stuck together. It had high peaking roofs on each of the hexagons covered in roof tiles. Soft yellow light streamed out from the diamond lattice windows. There was also a small garden beside it, where rather large pumpkins could be seen.

Luke was the first to the door, knocking on it in a rhythmical fashion. The four of them held their breath as they waited for the door to open. There was the creak of heavy footsteps on the wooden flooring. Then there was a click and the massive bearded form of their Care of Magical Creatures teacher appeared before them a moment later.

Hagrid looked confused for a moment as he took the sight of the two Gryffindors and two Slytherins on his doorstep so late at night.

"Blimey, Luke what 're you doin' 'ere?" Hagrid asked looking between the four of them suspiciously.

Luke barely look a breath before replying, "It's about Kaidia."

Hagrid looked surprised for a moment before giving an almost knowing nod.

"Well, I guess you lot betta be comin' inside then." Hagrid nodded, stepping away from the doorway.

Ashton, Michael and Calum hesitated for a moment, none of them had ever been in a Professor's actual living space before. Though Luke marched in front of them without even blinking. This wasn't a big deal to him; he'd visited Hagrid on numerous times during his years at the school. He'd mentioned to the others on the walk here that his parents had been friends with Hagrid long ago. Luke walked towards the giant wooden table and chairs that took up most of the first part of the room. The other three wizards followed behind him, each of them moving cautiously as if the whole house would break at a single touch.

Now that they were inside, Ashton's eyes scanned the room. He noticed the large fireplace to the side of the room, where a large cauldron sat. There was also a massive bed with an ornately pattered patchwork quilt on it. Sitting on a cupboard on the other side of the room was a giant volume on various magical creatures. Ashton thought it looked rather homely. It was hard to believe sometimes that the Professors had lives outside of being their teachers.

Ashton followed the others as they sat around Hagrid's wooden table. He cautiously took a seat at the end of the table, Michael, Calum and Ashton exchanged nervous glances. This still didn't feel like the best idea to them.

"Tea?" Hagrid questioned, gesturing to a kettle that was boiling in the kitchen right near the fireplace.

Luke nodded quickly, after shooting him hesitant glances the other three soon followed. After a few moments of fussing, Hagrid returned to the table and handed each of them a mug that looked way too big for a normal sized person. Regardless Ashton took a sip and had to admit that Hagrid did make great tea.

"So, what 'bout Kaidia? Lovely sweet dragon. Shame 'ey ad to take 'er" Hagrid spoke, sounding genuinely disappointed.

Luke nodded, "That's what we're here about. Do you know anything about this, Hagrid?" He asked, passing the newspaper towards him.

Hagrid took the newspaper into his huge hands and examined it carefully. He'd only read a few lines when he started to cry, pulling a white linen tissue from his coat pocket. Ashton, Calum and Michael exchanged glances. They'd never seen the professor cry like this before. Luke didn't look surprised at all, he just patted Hagrid's hand gently.

"She was a beautiful dragon. Would 'ave kept her if I could." Hagrid spoke through teary sobs.

Luke let him cry for a little while longer. He sobbed so much that it shook the whole table. When it seemed, Hagrid had calmed down a little bit, Luke began to talk again.

"Did you see anything suspicious though when they came to pick her up from you?" Luke asked.

"Nah, these friendly men from Romania came to collect her the other mornin' 'en she was gone." Hagrid explained, his crying ceasing for a moment. "I don't think it was 'em. 'Sides looks like 'er missing as well."

The four of them were silent as they thought over Hagrid's words. Someone else had been the one to intercept the truck. It seemed there hadn't been anyone suspicious from the team from Romania. At least it hadn't seemed so. Ashton still worried that all of this had something to do with the forbidden forest as that's where the van had been travelling past at the time. He also realised that this wasn't just about Kaidia anymore, the people that had been taking her to Romania needed to be found as well.

Once Hagrid had calmed down, together the four of them explained what had happened over the past few weeks. They explained all about how they'd found Kaidia and how they'd cared for.

"Something chose you?" Hagrid looked suspiciously at Ashton. "There must be a reason for it. The Forest Spirits don't appear like that for no reason."

"Well Ashton can communicate with dragons, so perhaps that's why?" Luke told Hagrid with a grin.

Michael, Calum and Ashton stared at Luke for a moment. They weren't planning to tell anyone about that. Especially not yet. It was too late though; Hagrid had already heard. His eyes widened as he turned towards Ashton.

"You can speak dragon?" Hagrid asked, though surprisingly his face was one of delight.

Ashton nodded slowly, "Well we've only tested it on one dragon which was Kaidia, but we think so."

"'That's wonderful news." Hagrid exclaimed, "'Always wished I could speak with 'em. You look 'fter 'hat skill."

Ashton could only nod. He was surprised, he'd have expected that Hagrid would've reported him straight away to the other teachers, not declared it as wonderful. Though he was starting to realise that perhaps Hagrid wasn't quite like the other teachers. Especially when it came to magical creatures.

"Tried keepin' a Dragon once." He sighed, "Norbert -I mean Norberta was such a cute dragon, even if she set my beard on fire a few times. Dumbledore sent 'er off to Romania too I'm afraid."

"You've kept a dragon before?" Michael asked with wide eyes looking interested.

"Yes. I've kept lots of magical creatures before too, part of e' reason why I got this job teachin' you about em'." Hagrid nodded, "A lot of them are still roaming around the Forbidden Forest. Must go and check on 'em every now and again."

"You keep magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest?" Michael asked. Ashton straightened as well.

Hagrid nods, "Of course, Forbidden Forests not quite as dangerous as the Professors will make you think. Say that just to keep students like yourselves out of there. There's some lovely creatures in there as well..."

The four of them weren't listening to him anymore. They started whispering to one another sharing ideas. Hagrid looked around the four of them realising that they were no longer listening. Then he thought about what he said.

"I shouldn't have told you that." Hagrid muttered. "I should not have told you that."

The four of them exchanged glances. They had ideas and planning to do but they knew it would be rude to leave now. So, the four of them stayed talking to Hagrid until their tea went cold, Luke quickly changed to subject to Murtlap's that they'd been learning about in their classes. Though there was only so long one could discuss the rat like creatures with sea anemones for backs. The moment Ashton was down to his last sip, the other three rose.

"Thanks for your help Hagrid." Luke nodded, hoping that Hagrid would forget all about even mentioning the Forbidden Forest to them.

The other three murmured similar thanks as they headed out the door. Hagrid looked bemused but thanked them for visiting. As soon as they were out of earshot, they started discussing Hagrid's claim that the Forbidden Forest wasn't as dangerous as they'd been told. Ashton's thoughts were on that dark shadowy thing that had chased him and Calum out of the forest. Though Hagrid must've been in there at least a billion times since then. He was conflicted, if it was the best chance, they had of finding Kaidia was it worth the risk?

"So, what now?" Michael frowned, "It might help but I still don't think going into the forbidden forest is a good idea. We have no idea what kind of creatures could live in there, not just uh...Hagrid's pets."

"I don't know." Calum frowned, looking to Ashton for help, he knew they would both be thinking along the same lines after their last adventure in it.

"We're still going to go and find her obviously." Luke nodded to the others. "Even if it means going into the Forbidden forest. Cal's great at wand work, Ash can sense the dragons and Michael you know everything there is to know about magical creatures. We'll be fine."

"It has the word forbidden in its name Luke." Calum frowned, reminding Ashton of the day he'd found Kaidia in the first place.

"It just means it's dangerous." Luke shrugged, "I've been in there before, it's not that bad. Hagrid's right I think they just say that to keep us out"

The three of them stared at him. Ashton and Calum had both been in the forest before, that one night when Ashton had found Kaidias egg. Neither had a wish to go back in ever again. Michael was shooting Luke a horrified look.

"Guys, come on don't give me that look. We had to get those shields back up somehow. No one else would go in there. I survived." Luke added noticing his friends faces. "Besides you heard what Hagrid said, he works in there all the time. Just because you three haven't been in there before."

"The thing is that we have, Luke. Calum and I were in there only a few weeks ago when we tried to take Kaidia back, we were chased by something." Ashton frowned biting his lip, "I'm serious about finding Kaidia but I'm not sure this is the right move."

Luke frowned, "Look here's an idea, for starters we just need to find where the van was intercepted. The quickest route to that location from here is the Forbidden Forest. We won't have to walk through it for long. If something goes wrong, we bail out straight away."

"Oh well, if you say so." Michael frowned as Calum and Ashton shot each other uncertain glances. Though it seemed whether they liked it or not they were going back into the Forbidden Forest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	19. A Difficult Start

Early the next morning before the sun rose the four Hogwarts students made the long walk towards the Forbidden Forest. It was the weekend now, the perfect time to disappear for a day or two. They hoped that they'd be back in time before anyone realised that they were missing. There was no detention or Slytherin/Gryffindor Quidditch matches this weekend so they had nowhere else that they needed to be or that their absence would be noticed.

The four of them had tried to look as inconspicuous as possible by dressing in regular clothes rather than their school robes. Despite it being weekend, it always felt rather odd to be dressing in ordinary jeans and clothing when they usually wore their school robes all week.

Ashton and Calum had met Luke and Michael at the bottom of the staircase near the Gryffindor common room early that morning. They re-entered through the portrait, much to the fat lady's dismay at letting Luke and Michael back in again. The four of them had chosen to use the hidden passage out of the Gryffindor Common Room as that was the least conspicuous option.

As they made the Forbidden Forest, they found it was dead quiet. The four of them began to walk cautiously with their wands at the ready as they made their way through the undergrowth. The sun still hadn't risen yet and fog was rolling in around them. It made the whole place even more eerie.

Ashton wondered whether they should've waited until the sun rose, but Luke insisted that they sneak out before it got light.

They continued to walk. Michael was pale faced walking slightly behind the others. Ashton was surprised by this thinking that Michael would be the brave one as he enjoyed exploring outside the castle. Though it seemed even this was too much for him. Luke walked ahead; his head held high looking the least frightened of any of them. It didn't mean he wasn't clutching his wand tightly though.

Suddenly Michael let out a loud terrified yell. A second later there was panicked flashed of light as he frantically yelled out spells. The other three boys turned, looking behind them in fear. Narrowly dodging the beams of light shooting from Michael's wand.

The light beams stopped, and Michael stood there with his chest rising rapidly up and down like he’d just run a marathon. He was glancing down into the fog.

"Michael you okay?" Ashton asked, looking at his friend nervously.

Michael didn't respond for a moment, he looked down into the fog for a moment longer before brushing off his arms and legs. The other three were scanning around him trying to work out what had been bothering him.

Michael frowned, bitting on his lip as he looked up at the others, "I thought I had something crawling up my leg okay?"

"That's all?" Calum grinned looking amused.

"Yes." Michael frowned, crossing his arms. When Calum continued to grin, he added. "It was terrifying okay?"

"It probably wouldn't have survived anyway." Luke frowned, gesturing to the singe marks on the trees from Michael's magic. "It was probably just an ant or something."

"I hope so." Michael frowned, "Though it really did feel like something. You three would've done the same."

"Probably." Ashton nodded, though he silently knew his spells probably would've hit someone.

They continued to walk again. Michael still looked quite nervous, even more so since the wand incident. The sun still hadn't risen yet, but the air around them was growing colder. Ashton hugged into his coat for warmth. He was starting to grow nervous they hadn't found anything yet. Besides the Forbidden Forest was massive.

"Hey Ash, have you been able to sense anything?" Calum asked, as they approached near the scene of the crash.

Ashton shook his head quickly, "Nothing yet."

They walked a little further before coming to a dirt road. Luke lead the way as they followed the road along for a few minutes. As soon as Ashton saw the skid marks and the smashed glass on the road, he knew they'd found the place. It seemed the van they'd been travelling in had been taken already. Though Ashton sensed the faint presence of the dragons that had been here.

The four of them searched the area for any further clues. There were a few footprint marks in the trees outside the road, the footprints seemed to lead back into the forest but disappeared soon after. Calum found a wand near where the group assumed that the van had crashed.

"We'll keep looking, it said whoever or whatever attacked the van came from the Forbidden Forest. We must be close to some sort of clue." Luke assured them.

"Don't you think the Ministry would've found something by now though? They would've searched this entire area." Calum frowned.

"I know but they didn't find that wand, so I’m not sure how good of a job they did." Luke looked up at Calum, "Besides they didn't have Ashton."

"I don't know, it doesn't really work like that Luke." Ashton frowned. "I don't think I can sense where she's been, only where she is. Though even then, I haven’t sensed where she is since she was taken."

"What about this?" Michael frowned gesturing to a set of giant foot like markings in the ground. "They lead from somewhere right to here. What if this is the thing that attacked the van?"

Suddenly everyone had crowded around him and were studying the footprints carefully. They were large, not quite dragon like but similar shaped, smaller and more human sized. They were different from the prints that they'd found earlier.

"I say we follow the prints back as far as we can." Ashton suggested to the others, "They might lead us to whoever took them."

The four of them followed the tracks along through a windy dirt track. They lead them right away from the road, unlike the original prints that they'd found. They kept walking following them, they seemed to lead a fair way. The four of them took that as a promising sign.

That was, until there was nothing. The four of them searched for the next pair of tracks but couldn’t seem to find them. As soon as the dust turned to grass, they seemed to fade.

"The tracks disappear here." Calum frowned his eyes searching around the ground.

Luke let out a groan, “Surely they pick back up again somewhere? We’ve been following them for miles. They were our best chance of finding her.”

The group continued walking straight looking for any sign of the prints, however they didn't seem to pick up again. The grass before them seemed never ending.

"This grass goes forever. It might have turned off or something." Ashton frowned looking around them.

“True.” Calum frowned. “There’s no way to tell which way it went.”

The four of them worked for a little while further before Michael let out a sigh.

"Look there’s a lake over there? I’m tired, let’s take a break." Michael spoke gesturing ahead of them, looking far more relaxed than he had earlier.

Everyone looked up to where Michael was gesturing. Just ahead there was a large lake surrounded by trees. The sun hadn't risen quite yet. It looked perfect.

"We've been walking for ages. Let's have a rest and we'll work out a plan." Michael suggested.

"Sounds good." Luke agrees.

They placed their backpacks on the ground and started sharing around their food. It was soon apparent that Michael’s suggestion that they needed a break was well justified. Though as they lingered for a lot longer than first intended Ashton couldn’t help but feel they were wasting time. 

Soon a beautiful melody began to rise from the water, slowly it grew louder. Ashton turned his head towards it, his eyes resting on a beautiful merperson that was watching them from the side of the lake. She had a shimmering emerald green tail and beautiful matching green eyes.

Ashton forgot about the food he was eating letting it drop to the ground. He stared at her as she sung to him. Suddenly nothing mattered anymore. Kaidia was a mere memory in his mind. His friends forgotten. She was the only thing in the world. He wanted to be out there with her. He wanted to join her singing in the depths of the lake.

Ashton rose walking towards the water. The merperson grinned urging him towards her. He stopped close to the edge, bobbing down to meet her face. He was mesmerised by her green eyes and beautiful voice.

He removed his shoes, leaving them at the waters’ edge. He stepped forward cautiously letting the water rose to his knees. After a moment he stepped into the water further, so it came almost up to his shoulders.

She grinned at him as she continued to sing. Ashton knew he'd found the right place. Here with her in the water. There was no place else he'd rather be.

Suddenly though her emerald green eyes shifted to red. The singing stopped and she leaped forwards letting out a high-pitched war cry as she pushed him backwards under the water. Ashton only had a moment to blink in confusion, noticing her beautiful teeth had changed to sharp points. She pushed him to the bottom of the lake, and suddenly he felt dozens of hands, pulling and tugging at him like a piece of meat. His throat burned as his lungs were taking in water. He was drowning. His vision growing fuzzier with each second he was down there.

Suddenly there was a bright burst of white light, and the creatures erupted into loud screeches. The creatures quickly dispersing. He felt something drag him up towards the surface.

He broke the surface and began to cough and wheeze as he was placed onto the shore. Water spilling out from his mouth. Someone patted his back. He looked up to find Calum was standing in front of him, still standing in the water. He had his wand raised and was panting heavily. His body covered in red angry scratches.

Ashton blinked looking past him realising that there were sirens everywhere. He thought of their lessons on them during both their Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures classes. They were awful vicious creatures that lured their prey towards them through song. They were responsible for the deaths of many witches and wizards, and even turned some into their own.

Calum was already gone; he was racing towards another part of the water where water was flinging up wildly. Ashton sat up straight observing the situation. He could see Calum racing towards the water. Michael was standing at the edge, completely drenched and covered in scratches. Yet he was looking longingly at a pretty siren with blue hair and a blue fin.

"Michael!" He yelled fearfully, but Michael didn't even seem to notice him, he was too engrossed with the siren and her song.

He had to stop her. His thoughts were still a little but muddle, but he remembered the counter spell to a siren's lure. He pulled his own wand out, still safe in his coat pocket.

He raced through the water towards Michael. Sirens advanced on Ashton from every direction trying to pull him under the water. Some sung and he could feel the dizzy sensation coming over him as they tried desperately to attract him with their song. He was more aware now, but it didn't make them easy to ignore. He paused for a moment as an orange haired one sung the most amazing song that he'd ever heard. He could feel the sensation from before coming over him.

He closed his eyes and shot his wand out in front of him sending the siren shooting backwards with a shriek.

He was losing time; Michael was moving back into the water now. He pushed harder against the sirens that were trying to stop him, shooting spells off in every direction.

He saw the siren going for Michael, its eyes shifting from blue to a dangerous red. This one didn't drag him completely under the water though. Her teeth were at his neck. Running out of time to get any closer, Ashton shot the spell towards her. She yelled dropping Michael quickly before disappearing under the water. The sirens were already swarming him, hoping for another chance.

Yet Ashton raced forwards, picking up Michael and dragging him towards the shore. He lifted him up, Michael was mumbling something about needed to go back in the water, but Ashton had him securely gripped so he couldn't return to it.

Whilst keeping Michael pinned, he turned back around searching for Calum and Luke amongst the mess. There was a flicker of tails and he could see Calum standing in the middle of it all. He noticed a glazy love-struck look come over his friends’ eyes. Not him too.

He could feel Michael pushing at him now, there was no way he could keep Michael pinned and save Calum as well. Plus, he had to find where Luke had gone. He could still hear the sirens song tempting him as well. He'd never make it without falling to their lures as well.

Suddenly there was a bright light by the edge of the water. Ashton noticed an older lady dressed in a raggedy witches’ robe. He noticed she had ear plugs firmly in her ears. Her wand was raised into the air before she pointed it towards the water. It was like an explosion went off as the sirens began to shriek disappearing under the water again.

Calum seemed to blink, before a wave of panic came over his face as he dove under the water. He returned to the surface a moment later with Luke carried in his arms. Luke looked floppy and lifeless in Calum's arms. His shirt was completely ripped, and he was covered in thick red marks. Calum walked towards where Ashton and Michael were. His expression was grim.

Beside Ashton, Michael was sitting up now looking confused.

"What happened?" Michael asked, though he went silent as he stared at Luke.

Ashton didn't answer him either. His heart was thumping, and he was fearful. He was so frightened that something had happened to Luke. If only he'd realised sooner what was happening.

Calum placed Luke on the shore on his side before Ashton on the grass before climbing out of the water himself. He looked exhausted. His skin covered in more of the angry scratches than before. His shirt was ripped in placed and stained with blood.

No one spoke for a moment. Luke's chest was barely moving, his skin was pale almost translucent. His lips were blue. Calum held his wand in front of him muttering a spell pointing it towards Luke.

"I think I was too late." He muttered under his breath. "They must've dragged him under while I was saving you two. He was fine, he said he was going to help too."

No one spoke. Ashton closed his eyes feeling tears building. This was a stupid idea; this was the reason why students weren't supposed to go into the Forbidden Forest. Kaidia wasn't worth this.

Yet suddenly there was a loud cough. Ashton's eyes flung open, as a stream of water came from Luke's mouth. He continued coughing, more and more water spilling out. Finally, his eyes opened, and he blinked at them slowly as if he'd come out of a long sleep.

"Guys?" He croaked; his throat still filled with sea water.

A yell of delight came up from the other three.

"Luke!? You're okay?" Calum asked in disbelief.

Slowly Luke sat up. He still didn't look well, but the colour had returned to his cheeks. He examined his scared arms carefully. He nodded. "A little battered, but I think I'll be fine."

"Thank goodness." Calum nodded looking relieved.

Luke’s eyes lingered back to the water, “Those things are scary though, they weren’t kidding in class when they said how bad they were.” He sighed, “I mean I was cursing at Michael and Ashton for going in and the minute one sang to me I was just as bad.”

“Don’t worry, we all fell for it.” Calum nodded, gazing at Luke sympathetically. Luke look confused, so Calum added. “The same thing happened to me as well.”

The four of them were silent, everyone was feeling a little uncertain now. They’d barely survived the sirens. Ashton was sure there could be worse dangers lingering in the trees that made up the Forbidden Forest before they even found Kaidia.

"I think I've had enough now." Michael frowned, "is this really worth it?"

Everyone's heads turned to Michael in surprised silence. Though Ashton knew what he meant, they were all bruised and battered after fighting the sirens. Plus, they'd all nearly drowned. Kaidia was important, but was it worth all of this?

"Guys we knew coming in here wasn't going to be easy. It's the forbidden forest after all." Luke spoke, his voice still a little husky from the water, "We'll be fine."

"You almost died Luke." Michael spoke, his expression grave.

"We don't know what those people that took her are doing to Kaidia either." Luke glared at him. "It could be a lot worse than what just happened to me."

Michael blinked looking stunned. Whilst Calum looked a little uncertain. Ashton could see what Luke meant as well, he'd hate to think what could be happening. Kaidia must be so frightened.

"Ah, thank goodness. He's okay." A females’ voice spoke causing the four of them to jump.

They turned and looked up finding the older woman who had just rescued them standing nearby. She had a warm smile and made them all think of a warm-hearted grandmother who enjoyed making cookies. Though Ashton wondered how long she'd been watching them. One thing was clear she used her magic to help them.

"Sirens are fickle creatures." She continued, "You did well to fight them off in any respect. I just thought you could use a little help."

"Thank you." Calum nodded to her, "All of us really appreciate it."

"Though I know what you're here for. Your trying to rescue something that has been taken." She smirked, "I also know that you don't have a lot of time to sort this out."

The four of them stared at her.

"I'm talented with charms, but my real skills lie in divination."

"Is divination even real?" Michael whispers to Calum who nods cautiously.

Luke shot him a look.

"Divination is much more than reading tea-leaves like I'm sure you've learned at school." She speaks her gaze on Michael hard as stone. Michael looks surprised, "Oh yes, I know where you should be."

The four of them exchange nervous glances. They didn't even have their robes on, and she knew. Was it just luck that she'd worked out that they weren't old enough to be wandering the forest alone?

"I want to help you. Would you like to come back to my cottage? I think we need to talk before you can continue your journey further."

The four of them shot one another uncertain glances. The don't talk to stranger’s discussion was shared between both Muggles and Wizards. Sure, this lady had saved them; but could they really trust her?

"I insist. If you don't talk to me great danger will befall you and your friends."

"I think it's a good idea." Luke nods, turning back to the others, "She wants to help us."

"Don't you think it's strange though we're in the middle of nowhere and some lady says she wants to help us?" Michael protests.

"Yes." Calum quickly agrees.

"I agree" Ashton frowns, before nodding to Luke, "But what if she is telling the truth? We'd be idiots to ignore her. She might be able to help us find Kaidia faster."

"Besides there's four of us. If something goes wrong, surely a least one of us can figure a way out." Luke nods.

Michael and Calum exchange glances, neither one looking completely convinced. The lady didn't seem to be rushing them, she was just watching them carefully.

"I think this is the best idea." Ashton assured them.

Michael let out a sigh and nodded. Leaving Calum with no option to agree now that it was three verses one.

"Alright then, lead the way." Luke spoke, as he nodded to the lady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	20. A Meeting

After a heated discussion the group decided that they would go back with the witch to her cottage. It wasn't far from the lake. Yet Ashton noticed that Michael was glowering all the way back to her cottage. He wasn't as thrilled at the idea as the others. Yet Ashton had a feeling that this was important, he didn't think the woman wasn't lying when she said talking to her was crucial to their success.

Eventually they came to a small cottage, the entire place was covered in various climbing plants and shrubbery. It almost blended into the woodland landscape around it. Any passer by would've almost missed the place.

As they entered it reminded Ashton a little of Hagrid's hut. It has a similar cosy feel and an old-world charm. It was as if they'd stepped back in time. The witch's cottage was much larger than Hagrid's hut though, it was two stories with an old wooden staircase leading up to what the four assumed to be the bedrooms. What they passed downstairs though was what looked to be a fully stocked kitchen and a bedroom that was crowded with a rivalling mix of both books and multicoloured flowers.

The witch led them into the sitting room, where a fire burned in the fireplace. Upon seeing it, Luke made a beeline for it. He sat down of the rug in front of it. Luke was still rather wet from being dragged right under the lake, so the heat of the flame was much appreciated. Though, soon the other three boys had joined him, enjoying the comfort and warmth that the fire gave to their damp clothes.

In front of the fire it gave the boys the chance to look around. There were books on most of the shelves, and what wasn't covered in books had tiny glass jars with various ingredients that looked like they had come straight out of potions class. Ashton almost felt as though he hadn't left Hogwarts, that this was some extension of it somehow. He'd been to Calum's house before which had numerous strange and wonderful wizarding artefacts, but it had nothing on this.

Not minding that the four of them were more focused on the fire than what she had brought them here for, the witch disappeared into the kitchen. She soon reappeared with tea and a various assortment of biscuits which she placed on the table behind them before disappearing again. Michael had hesitated and refused, quietly whispering to the others that he wasn't going to go anywhere near them. Even Calum had seemed a little hesitant, which made Ashton hesitant as well. None of them were sure whether eating or drinking anything here was a good idea. She might be friendly, but they still didn't know her.

Luke had rolled his eyes at the other three, reaching up and trying both the tea and the biscuits. He'd then spent the next few minutes trying to convince the others that they were fine. Tentatively the three of them decided to try them as well. The three soon found that there was nothing wrong with them at all. In fact, they were home-made and delicious. None of them could deny that the witch must be a good cook.

Not long after the boys had finished eating and had returned to their warm spot in front of the fireplace, the witch returned with an armful of candles in her hands. She placed them around the room, lighting each one as she went.

She turned back giving a slightly amused glance at the four of them crowded around the fireplace before settling into one of the chairs in the room.

Luke's eyes flickered back to her. He waited for a moment and when she didn't speak, he decided to ask instead.

"So, you're the one who brought us here." Luke frowned, "What do you know?"

The woman nodded as she lit the candle nearest to her, it illuminated the entire left side of her face. By this point the other three had turned from the fireplace and were looking in her direction as they waited for her answer to Luke's question.

"I know a lot of things, but there's still a lot of factors that are unknown." She explained, "Fates can change, destinies can be re-written. I also know that you four are the only chance right now we have of saving them."

Michael made a frustrated noise and Calum jabbed him in the elbow.

"I have a piece of advice for each of you. Something that will aid you when you come face to face with the dark wizards responsible for this."

"Dark wizards?" Ashton questioned. Feeling fearful. Poor Kaidia if she'd been captured by dark wizards. What would they do with her? He shivered at the thought.

She seemed to ignore Ashton's question as her eyes moved onto Michael who was still looking at her skeptically. He didn't believe in any of this weird Divination stuff. Though he was curious what she had to say, so he sat quietly and listened as she began to speak.

"You're afraid of making mistakes and losing what you've found. There will be numerous opportunities to prove yourself over the coming events. You must be brave and rise to each challenge with your ideas. The success of you and your friends relies on it." She sighed, "No matter how much you may doubt yourself."

Everyone expected Michael to make a joke about the woman's words, but he had gone into an almost stunned silence. As her eyes moved from Michael and onto Luke. Luke's eyes widened as she began to speak.

"You were the victim of something outside your control. I can sense that you still feel guilt regarding that event. You still feel a little like the outsider and fear your friends don’t really trust you. Have courage in the fact that you have been a hero many times in the past. Your optimism and knowledge will help pull you and your friends along as long as you believe in it."

Luke looked a little embarrassed but nodded, her eyes had already moved onto Calum. Calum straightened as she began.

"I can see that you've been under a lot of pressure these past few weeks. Captaining a Quidditch Team halfway through a season isn't easy. Though I can see you know the rewards of doing a good job. You want to do the same here. Your magic and skills will be an asset to you and your friends, as long as you use them well and look at the situation from all angles."

Calum nodded looking a little spooked still, he hadn't even mentioned the Quidditch team but somehow, she'd known about it.

Her eyes moved to Ashton last. She seemed to hover her eyes over him for a moment. She hovered for so long that Ashton almost thought that she would turn around and say she had nothing for him. Though as she began to talk, he realised that he was wrong.

"Ah yes. Ashton." She nods, as if something about her next words had fascinated her. "I can see you've lost something precious to you."

Ashton nodded quickly; she certainly had that part right.

"I can see you have a special bond with the creature. One that has lasted throughout generations. I can see an older man and a dragon...not you of course. A reality from a long time ago, a grandfather or great grandfather of yours perhaps?"

Now Ashton was really confused. "But how Kaidia's only a little baby?" Ashton frowned; he bit his lip suddenly feeling rude for interrupting her as his friends turned to him.

"Ah yes, but she's a Pygmy Celestial. Their bonds run much deeper than any kind of dragon."

Ashton was even more confused now, but he decided this time to let her finish before asking any more questions. It didn't make sense. His thoughts were swirling as he tried to put the picture together. How could Kaidia have known a great grandfather or grandfather of his. Besides how had a relation of his had anything to do with a dragon. As far back as he knew his family were all muggles. He had to have been the first wizard in his family in centuries if not ever.

He knew his magic had to have come from somewhere though. Was this it?

"You have a wonderful yet rare ability." She smiled as she nodded at Ashton, "Use it wisely to restore the balance between magical folk and dragons."

Ashton blinked, was this where that ability had come from as well? Though if that were true then why was so much of his family muggles? He couldn't help but let all the questions come out at once.

Though the woman had simply shaken her head, "We can't question the fates, or the powers that have been dealt to us." She shook her head. "But just know that you're not the first in your family's history to befriend a Pygmy Celestial of Kaidia's lineage."

Ashton could only nod. Kaidia's lineage, so perhaps one of Kaidia's relatives had known his? That explained the connection perhaps.

"Now that leaves me to the matter of Kaidia and the other dragons' location." She continued. "They're close and I have a rough idea. I can tell that much." She frowned, "Yet the forest is thick and expansive, but I think I might have an idea of how you can find them."

Everyone's eyes lit up. They were on the right path at least and it seemed this woman had an idea of how they could find them.

"I'll go make preparations, you boys rest. You'll need the energy for your journey." She explained.

The woman left them. They could hear some noise from the kitchen, and she disappeared outside.

Once she was gone the four of them turned to each other.

"Well that was informative." Calum nodded, "See Michael? It was a good idea coming here."

"Yeah, yeah." Michael shrugged.

"I think she was right. We could've been wandering the forest for days and not found a thing." Luke nodded.

"And probably become dinner for those hungry lake sirens." Ashton frowned.

"Plus, who knows what else is out there." Calum frowned.

"True." Luke agreed with the two of them.

Following the woman's words, the four of them rested for a little while longer. At one point she brought them out an impressive selection of food to eat for lunch. They talked about what the woman had said, and their clothes quickly dried. Eventually the woman returned, carrying small shoulder bags with something indistinguishable in them.

"Alright, are you boys ready to go?" She asked. They looked between each other nodding. "Then grab your things and follow me."

"She didn't even read the tea leaves." Michael huffed in a whisper to Calum. Calum promptly rolled his eyes.

The four of them followed her out towards the back door.

"So, I was thinking that the four of you have a lot of ground to cover in a short space of time. I also know that Ashton can sense most of the time when the dragons are close. So, I'm allowing you to borrow my thestrals." She explained, "They'll get you where you need to go, and they know the forest well." She sighed, as the four of them stepped out onto her back porch that lead onto a giant patch of grass. "Hopefully at least one of you can see them."

She gestured in front of them expectantly. Both Calum and Luke's eyes searched the area, but they could only see the grass and trees that made up the back of her house.

"There's nothing there." Calum frowned looking where the lady was gesturing. Luke nodded as well. Both thought this lady was truly crazy, there was absolutely nothing there.

However, Ashton and Michael were both frozen in place staring in front of them. Before them were two large bony, black hided, skeletal, horse like creatures. Both Ashton and Michael had seen them pulling the carts they usually took up to the castle from Hogsmeade Station. They'd covered them once in Care of Magical Creatures as well. They never would've expected to see them here.

"If you can see them it's usually someone who's witnessed death." She spoke, her eyes were almost knowing on the two of them.

Ashton was stunned figuring that everyone could see them. He had to think for a moment, but then he remembered sitting with his Grandmother as she'd passed, a year or two before starting Hogwarts. That's why he could see them then. He turned to the others noticing both Luke and Calum's bemused expressions. He understood quickly that they couldn't see them. Though he noticed Michael was glancing at them with the same amazed look that he was. It seemed that Michael could see them too. He was slightly grateful to not be the only one. He figured he would've had a hard time explaining to them that the lady wasn't crazy.

Ashton was both a little scared and excited that he was able to see them.

"Cal, you can ride one with me." Ashton spoke as he turned to his friend. Calum looked at him with a confused expression, so he added, "I can see them."

Calum blinked at him as if he was crazy.

"So, you mean to say there is actually something there?" Calum questioned with raised eyebrows. Luke looked over at them, seeming interested to hear what Ashton would say. Michael was too busy staring in front of him at the other thestral to notice.

Ashton nodded, "Yes, just I don't think you can see it."

Luke and Calum looked even more confused at that. Luke turned back to Michael who was still standing next to him.

"Michael can you see it?" He asked.

"Yes, I can." Michael nodded, "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"I wouldn't know, I can't exactly see them." Luke frowned, following Michael's clear gaze. Luke let out a long sigh, seemingly disappointed that he couldn't.

Michael looked back at him in surprise. He looked slightly worried for a moment; he'd clearly missed Ashton saying he could see it.

"Don't worry I can see them as well." Ashton nodded to him. "Look considering you and I are the only ones who can see them, I'll take Cal with me and you can take Luke?"

Michael nodded quickly. "Yeah, okay."

Though it was clear from Luke's expression that Luke was less than thrilled about riding on a creature that he couldn't even see. Especially a flying one at that. Neither Ashton nor Michael really blamed him, it would be terrifying.

"Alright so now we've established who can see them and who can't. Let's work on getting the four of you on them. Riders, I need you to raise your hand and walk towards the Thestrals carefully. Give it a moment, and then give it a light pat on the front of its head when it seems ready. I know the two of you are great at Care of Magical Creatures, so it should be easy."

Ashton and Michael exchanged glances but nodded. With those words in mind, the two of them started approaching their individual thestrals. The two creatures raised their heads as they sensed the two wizards walking towards them.

"Approach carefully now." The lady warned them, "They are gentle creatures at heart, but they will only transport you if they believe you to be a friend."

Ashton and Michael both nodded, walking carefully towards the two creatures. As they drew closer, the creatures both bowed their heads; allowing them to be patted. The surface of their skin was a little bony but also very smooth to the touch. Ashton couldn't help but smile, the lady was right. They did seem gentle. He thought about how he'd have to say hello to the ones that pulled the Hogwarts Carts next time they saw them. Probably to next trip to Hogsmeade or on the way back to the Hogwarts Express at the end of the school year. He turned towards Michael who was grinning from ear to ear as he patted his thestral.

"Good, great work. Now you should be able to climb up onto their backs." She explained, "Be careful not to sit too far forwards but still leave enough room for your friend."

Ashton nodded, a feeling of anticipation rising over him. It was going to be just as good maybe even better than riding a broomstick he was sure. Though when he turned back to Luke and Calum, he could only register the horrified looks on both their faces as they realised, they were going to have to go into this partially blind. With the way that Luke and Calum were staring at the invisible space in front of Michael and Ashton. It was hard to believe that they were both Quidditch players.

Ignoring his friends for a moment, Ashton climbed up onto his Thestrals back, the creature let out a small hum in approval, as he stroked the back of its neck. Realising that Calum wouldn't be able to get up onto his own, he turned back down to him watching from the ground. Ashton held his hand out to Calum who was still glancing at him skeptically.

"Ash...I'm still not sure about this. I still don't know whether the three of you are all crazy and seeing things." Calum frowned.

Ashton let out a long sigh in understanding, before gesturing below him. "Surely you can see that I'm sitting on something, still right?"

Calum gave the air below Ashton a sceptical glance. He had to admit it did look like Ashton was sitting on something mid-air. Something like a broom but much wider. There had to be something there, Ashton wasn't that good at floating charms. Calum silently wished that there was some spell that would allow him to see the thestrals too, but if there was one, he didn't know it.

He sucked in a deep breath he had to trust Ashton on this one. He didn't like the idea of riding on something that he couldn't see. He could only place trust in the idea that Ashton would keep him safe up there.

Calum reached his hands out to Ashton, who helped guide him to the invisible thestral. He jumped as his hands hit something solid although he couldn't see it. The weirdness increased as Ashton helped pull him up onto the invisible creature. Straight away he felt something jerk beneath him and he quickly closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. This was nothing like the movement of his broomstick. It was strange, he could tell something was under him, but he couldn't quite describe what. Though knowing something was there didn't stop him from clinging onto Ashton's back for dear life before they'd even started. He heard Ashton give a light chuckle. Ashton assured Calum that they'd both be fine.

Calum and Ashton were both ready to go as they'd ever be. Yet when Ashton turned to see how the others were going it was clear that Luke wasn't taking the experience quite so well as Calum had.

"I'M NOT DOING IT!" Luke yelled loudly. He was still on the ground with his arms crossed, looking up at Michael who was already sitting up on the Thestrals back like Ashton was. Michael was looking a little desperate.

"Come on Luke, this is the only way we're going to find Kaidia without it taking forever. It's fine, I can see it and I'll be able to fly it. Trust me." Michael spoke, trying desperately to convince Luke to join him, "I mean come on you're the one that flies around on a broomstick looking for a magic golden ball for fun. This isn't much different."

"Yes, but there is a difference. I can see my broomstick." Luke frowned, "Isn't there some other way we can travel?"

"No." Michael frowned at him, "We don't have time for this Luke. You'll be safe with me."

Luke continued to shake his head. It seemed there was no way he was riding on a creature he couldn't even see. Funny, Ashton thought to himself, he can defend the school's barriers by entering the Forbidden Forest alone and he can even save Professors from impending doom but the thought of travelling on a horse like creature he couldn't see was clearly too much.

"Come on Luke, you have to at least try." Calum nodded slowly, opening his eyes just enough so that he could see. "I'm already on it." He told Luke. Though his trembling hand on Ashton's t-shirt wasn't very convincing.

Luke took one glance at Calum and Ashton who were both seemingly sitting on air in his eyes. He seemed to realise that he was the only one not on one yet. He let out a long sigh as he turned back to Michael. He held his hand out to Michael who helped pull him up onto the thestral. He clung on tightly to Michael's back, before letting out a small terrified shriek as he seemed to realise, he could feel something moving beneath him.

"Just pretend you're on your broomstick." Michael told him as soothingly as possible, as Luke dug his fingernails into Michael's back.

"I'm trying." Luke spoke through gritted teeth. He let out a frightened yell again.

Michael went through several soothing phrases and eventually Luke was still terrified but had stopped yelling every time the thestral so much as moved. Michael felt a little bad for him wondering how he would’ve reacted if he couldn’t see them. He probably would’ve carried on even more than Luke had.

"We ready?" Michael asked once Luke was calm. He knew he was going to have trouble getting Luke to relax again when they finally took off. Though he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Ashton nodded, taking a bag from the woman and slinging it over his shoulder. "I think we are." He turned back to the witch who was smiling at the four of them fondly. "Thanks so much for all your help. We really appreciate it. We'll be sure to bring these two back soon."

"Best of luck." The woman nodded, with a warm smile.

Ashton and Michael both gave the signal to their thestrals, and the two creatures broke into a run. Luke let out a sharp frightened yell as they moved, while Calum clung to Ashton's back tighter. Soon the two thestrals had lifted off into the sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing the bit at the end with the thestrals was a lot of fun. I'm with Luke, I don't think I'd want to ride on something that I couldn't see. XD
> 
> Thanks for reading! ^^


	21. Ride Of The Thestrals

The sun was setting, spreading vibrant oranges and yellows into the sky. To some it would look like there were two horse liked winged creatures flying up above carrying four passengers. Whilst to others it would look like the four of them were simply floating on air.

Being on the Thestrals was amazing. Ashton thought to himself as the four of them rode through the sky. They'd been travelling for over an hour now and he still hadn't grown tired of the feeling. He'd always loved the thrill of riding on a broomstick, but this was something else. He could feel the rhymical beat as the creature flapped its wings, feel its breaths as it held their weight. It was truly alive.

He looked across from him at Michael who was riding on the other Thestral. His giant smile hadn't left his face the whole time. Behind him, Luke still look petrified, his hands were pale and clammy as he held onto Michael's back. It was obvious his eyes were only either on the sky above or what was around them. Luke wouldn't dare look down below. It was slightly ironic for someone who played Quidditch and flew around on a broomstick almost daily to be so scared. Though Ashton knew it had to be different for him, Luke could see his broomstick, but he couldn't see the creature below.

Behind Ashton, Calum had relaxed. He sat comfortably now, only holding onto Ashton to steady himself and remain on the creature. He had even opened his eyes. Though he was silently pretending to himself that he was just riding on a broomstick, albeit a slightly jerkier one.

Ashton sighed; he hadn't sensed anything yet. Michael and Calum were constantly asking him if he'd sensed anything, but for the past hour the answer had remained the same. He knew they'd need to land soon, Thestrals didn't have limitless energy and he could sense the Thestral was tiring. Especially from the weight of the two boys that it carried. The thestrals would need to rest and have something to eat. They probably would as well. It had been a little while since their meal at the witch’s cottage.

He knew they wouldn't be able to linger long though; they'd already lost almost lost a day now. There was only one day left before they would need to return to Hogwarts before someone realised, they were missing.

He couldn't help but wonder if this was hopeless, he'd lost the connection with Kaidia once before. He hadn't even been able to sense him properly that day in Professor Batt's office when Luke had unwillingly dobbed them in.

What if that bond was lost? He hadn't even realised she'd been with Hagrid for those few days. He must've walked near Hagrid’s hut at least a few times on his way to Care of Magical Creatures. Why hadn't he been able to sense her?

It was about ten minutes later that he jerked in shock, almost throwing the thestral off balance. The thestral made a sharp dive towards the ground. Calum let out a terrified yell as he clung to Ashton's shoulders. He was quickly echoed by both Luke and Michael as they witnessed the dive.

The thestral righted itself on its own, lining back up with the one Luke and Michael were riding on. Yet Ashton was no longer concentrating, he could sense a million emotions from down below. There was so much pain, so much sadness. He recognised the foreign emotions, realising it wasn't just one dragon down there. Perhaps even hundreds. He winced lifting one of his hands to his head, as the headache burned through his skull. He tried to push them out of his mind.

"We're close." Ashton spoke weakly, as he turned back to Calum.

Calum still looked a little pale and terrified. In his own panic Ashton had barely noticed his friend had been clinging to his shirt again. "Was that what that was?" He asked, his eyes filled with concern.

Ashton nodded, feeling a little guilty for sending the thestral into a dive in his panic. "Yeah sorry about that." He sighed, "Too much emotional input at once. It kind of scared me, and everyone else it seemed." Ashton explained as he gave the thestral a sympathetic pat.

"Do you think it's time to land then? Can you sense them well enough?" Calum frowned.

Ashton thought for a moment, he'd managed to block them out enough that he could think clearly but it was clear they were still close. They needed to stop soon anyway.

Ashton nodded, "Yeah I think so." He eyed of a grassed area up ahead between the trees. "That looks like a good spot. I think Dragons or not these guys need a rest anyway."

Calum nodded back at him. Ashton turned his head to where Luke and Michael were flying alongside and told them the plan. Michael nodded too. Though he saw Luke immediately grimace, it seemed perhaps he'd finally started getting used to flying on what seemed like air to him. It was clear that he wasn't looking forward to landing. Even Calum seemed a little nervous, clutching onto Ashton tighter.

Remembering the woman’s instructions, Ashton and Michael signalled to the thestrals to land. Ashton lead the way, as the two thestrals began to make their descent. The thestrals were gentle, circling and lowering slowly. Calum's grip on Ashton slowly released. Though a quick glance at Luke showed he was still petrified. With a slight thud the Thestrals landed in the middle of the grassed area that Ashton had spotted from above. They came to a running stop.

The four of them looked around to make sure the area was safe, there didn't seem to be anyone else around though. Cautiously Ashton helped Calum to climb down from the thestral. Calum looked more than a little relieved to have both feet back on the ground. Ashton climbed off after him, turning to give the creature a quick pat. He located the bag that the lady had given them that contained food to feed them. He gave a slightly disgusted look at the meat like substance inside. He turned the other way in slight disgust as he held it out to the creature who ate it hungrily. Nearby Michael feed some of the food to his thestral as well.

He could hear Luke and Calum both discussing how strange the experience had been as they sat on the grass and opened the backpacks that contained their supplies. With the thestrals fed, Ashton and Michael soon joined them.

Things were more relaxed in that moment. Thoughts of sirens and for some riding on air were long forgotten. Michael had sat himself down beside his Thestral, who snuck a tiny bit of his food.

"It's strange, I know somethings there, but there isn't something there." Luke frowned as he watched Michael's food seemingly disappear into thin air.

"I don't know what's stranger, us being able to see them or you guys not being able to see them." Michael nodded.

"Me either." Calum sighed, "I mean the reason you can see them isn't exactly that great." He shivered a little.

"I know." Michael agreed with a nod, looking a little embarrassed. Though it was clear no one was game to ask what he had seen that allowed him to see the creatures. No one asked Ashton either.

The four of them were quite a moment. Ashton and Michael's heads shot up as they heard the two thestrals make a strange noise. Calum's eyes were on something in the bushes. He stood quickly as he grabbed his wand out from his pocket. Ashton blinked noticing a person was watching them, dressed in a dark cloak, their wand raised.

"Petrificus Totalus." Calum yelled, just as a light began to form in the other persons wand. As Calum's spell hit, the person seemed to freeze over. Their joints seemed to cling together as they fell backwards into the bushes.

Calum didn't move he stood watching the space, as the other three waited in silence their eyes scanning around them. No one else seemed to appear, and Calum relaxed dropping his wand.

"Who was that?" Michael was the first to speak.

Calum frowned, "I don't know, but they had their wand raised at us."

Calum walked slowly towards the place where the person had been standing. The others hovered slightly behind. He hesitated slowly peaking over the bushes. A young man laid there, his wand on the ground beside him. Though Calum noticed a strange tattoo on the man's hand shaped like a spider. He stepped back towards the others. Knowing that people could still hear them whilst under the curse.

Muttering quickly, Calum raised his wand and put a protective spell on their group so that they wouldn't be seen. He was a little annoyed at himself for not thinking of it sooner. A moment later and who knew what spell the guy would've shot at them.

All four of them were a little nervous that the guy had something to do with the disappearance of the dragon. So, they started to pack up their things and resume their search. They knew that at least that guy had been out here and were sure there could be more.

They walked cautiously for a little while through the forest, following Ashton's sense of where the dragons were. Soon they came to a big hill that seemed out of place in the mostly flat forest land. Ashton was feeling more lightheaded than ever, the force of all the combined dragon's emotions was weighing down heavily on him. Ashton lead the group around it, feeling like he was playing a game of 'hot' and 'cold' like he had as a kid. The pain meant that he was close, no pain meant they were getting further away.

They walked around the hill, and the pain remained as the four of them looked for an opening or entrance so that they could see what was inside. Though they seemed to find nothing but grass.

Calum frowned when they reached a certain point, noticing that Ashton seemed to react more to it than any place they'd been. He had a strange sense as well, kind of like when Ashton had first shown him the secret passageway in the Gryffindor common room. He asked the others to slow down.

"Revelio." Calum spoke, pointing his wand towards the mountain.

Slowly the hillside began to shape and bend forming into a large metal door, that was covered in flowering tree vines. The other three gasped as Calum tucked away his wand, feeling rather smug for finding it.

Ashton frowned, stepping towards it. The closer he stood, the stronger the emotions of the dragons were. He held his hand to the door, letting out a slight wince. He turned back to the others who were watching him carefully.

He nodded, "I think this is it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	22. A Harsh Truth

"Oh yeah, I definitely think this is it." Luke agreed, moving to stand beside Ashton as they all looked up at the massive metal doorway in front of them.

The four of them were relieved but slightly nervous to have found the hidden doorway. They were all suspicious of it, especially now that they’d needed Calum’s revealing spell to see it. Whoever had created it would’ve needed to use magic in the first place to shield it. Suggesting perhaps that a wizard or which had been the one to create it. On the other had it was clear that being close to it was causing Ashton’s sense of the nearby dragons to be closer than ever.

"Alright great work, Cal. But how did we get in then?" Luke frowned glancing back at Calum expectantly.

Calum bit his lip staring up at the metal structure. Getting it to appear had been easy. Years of going in and out of the Gryffindor common room's secret passage had been worth-while. Though once the one at Hogwarts was open it was a clear pass. Getting inside here would be a much tricker deal. Surely a wizard or a group of wizards wouldn't want to make the place too easy to get in.

"What about Alohomora?" Michael questioned, as if that was the most obvious suggestion.

Calum was quick to dismiss him, as he shook his head, "Come on, seriously? That would be too easy. Even a first year knows that spell."

"Have you tried it?" Michael asked.

"Well no..." Calum bit his lip.

Suddenly there was a loud groan and everyone's eyes flickered to Ashton, who was swaying slightly as if he was struggling to stay upright. His hand to his head and he groaned again. Luke had raised his arms out in a motion that suggested that he was ready to catch him.

"Ash are you alright?" Michael frowned, all thoughts of getting inside quickly forgotten.

Ashton gave a weak nod, that didn't give the complete impression that he was okay. He was using the wall to stay upright, "Just a bit much is all, I've been blocking them out for the most part but there must be hundreds of dragons behind there."

Ashton let out another wince, causing the other three to exchange worried glances. Was it wise taking him further inside? It was clear that the dragon’s presence was affecting him.

"Of course." Calum frowned, looking the most worried out of the three of them. He'd seen Ashton looking unwell before, but this time worried him the most. "But let us know if it gets too much okay. We can find another way."

Ashton nodded weakly. He didn't want to cause the others anymore trouble. He was trying his best to block out the emotions, but it was starting to get more difficult now they were closer. He silently knew it was obviously taking both a mental and physical toll on him. They wouldn’t have long to find them.

Michael hung to the side with Ashton, as Calum and Luke started studying the metal doorway.

Luke let out a sigh, "Michael's idea is kind of dumb, but should we try it?" Luke questioned. Michael let out an annoyed huff, no one had suggested anything else.

"I don't think it'll work but let's try." Calum nodded, "Though surely no intelligent wizard would leave something unprotected enough for that spell to get us in."

Michael shot him another look. Though a moment Luke moved out the way as Calum raised his wand and placed it between a spot in the middle of the metal.

"Alohomora." Calum muttered at the wall.

As everyone expected, nothing happened. The door stayed firmly shut. Calum shook his head, turning back to the others, "Oh well at least I tried."

Suddenly, a loud clicking noise came from behind the doorway. Four heads shot up in alarm. As the four of them turned, the metal doors seemed to slide open on their own. Calum's eyes popped out of his head as he stared at the open doorway that seemed to lead into a longer corridor. His entire face lit up into a stunned grin. Luke let out a surprised gasp.

"I can't believe Alohomora actually worked." Michael laughed.

"Me either." Calum gasped shaking his head. He truly hadn't expected the spell to work at all.

Ashton let out another groan, the force of the dragons clearly increased by the opening of the door. Michael hovered beside him nervously. Though Ashton seemed to recover enough to shake his head at him. Assuring everyone else that he was okay.

"Alright let's go then." Calum grinned, though he frowned, "Move carefully, everyone. We don't know how many cameras or magical sensors they have."

Michael let out a cough, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Calum blinked at him in confusion. His eyes glancing at Ashton, who looked slightly better than he had a moment ago.

"The threstrals?" Michael prompted, "We can't just leave them out here or bring them with us."

Luke and Calum's mouths contoured into o shapes. They both seemed to have long forgotten the two creatures that were accompanying them. Though it seemed when you couldn't see the creatures it was easy to forget they were there.

"Right." Calum nodded, biting on his lip. "How about we leave them somewhere near here, and I'll place a stronger spell on them so no one else who can see thestrals will see them."

Michael nodded, it wasn't an ideal situation and he hated to leave them, but he knew they didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. Bringing them inside with them seemed like a worse option.

With the thestrals sorted, they returned to the door. Relieved that it was still open waiting for them. Calum repeated his warning from earlier and the four of them started to walk inside.

Not long after they walked inside Ashton kind of wished they hadn't. They came to a room where there were rows upon rows of large metal barred cages. There were hundreds of dragons of different sizes and different breeds. Ashton could've sworn he heard all of them. Unfortunately, it wasn't a pleasant feeling like when Kaidia had been in a good mood. It was the kind that drained your own energy. Ashton felt an ache of emotions, a mixture of fear and sorrow. It made him feel sick to the stomach.

"There's so many of them." Ashton winced putting his hand to his head. He could hear all of them now, even stronger than before. Their fear was roaring inside his head. He'd expected a lot, but not this many. Seeing them before him made a large difference. Yet who would do such a thing?

Dark wizards, he thought to himself remembering the woman's words.

"I know, Ash." Calum frowned; he'd stuck close to Ashton the entire time they'd been inside. He was worried about him; thin veiny lines had appeared on his friends’ arms. He didn't want to make too big deal of it while Ashton was still walking but he was more than a little concerned about him.

They continued to walk the four of them walking carefully amongst the dragons’ cages. Luke was silent looking pale faced. Michael was shaking his head, looking disappointed. Ashton wobbled more and more with every step. Calum’s eyes kept flickering to Ashton nervously, noticing his friends state declining.

They hadn't walked much further when Ashton started to sway again, his form headed towards the floor. Calum quickly grabbed him, keeping him held up on his shoulder. Michael and Luke exchanged worried glances.

"Thanks." Ashton nodded weakly to Calum.

Calum nodded.

"Who would do this though?" Luke frowned looking up around them at the caged dragons.

"Someone who knows they can make a lot of money off dragons in the black market." Michael frowned, his hand on one of the cages. There was an orange scaled dragon inside it was wearing a muzzle over its mouth. Its scales were pale, and it looked to be asleep. "Or maybe even something worse, these guys don't look too good."

Luke nodded in worried agreement as Calum fussed over Ashton.

"I'm fine." Ashton assured Calum. He let out a wince. Calum shot him a worried glance, "Okay so maybe not. There's too many of them."

Calum silently decided to use a healing charm in order to help him. He rose his wand and performed the spell. Though after a few moments he noted that it didn't seem to help much, Ashton still looked incredibly ill, if not worse than ever.

"Maybe you need to try to ignore them." Calum frowned, worried as to why the charm hadn't had much impact, "We're trying but unfortunately right now you can't help them."

Ashton nodded. He took a deep breath doing his best to shut them out. He'd found the dragons now; he didn't need to focus on them. The longer he let their emotions get the better of him the harder it would be to help them escape.

He gritted his teeth straining against the dragons’ force. It was like shutting an overflowing suitcase or trying to turn off a leaky tap. Every time he felt their emotions easing, another wave came over him. He narrowed his eyebrows trying to concentrate. He had to do this, or they'd never get anywhere.

It took a few moments, but he soon heard close to nothing, the emotions a dull thrum in the back of his mind. He righted himself, no longer relying on Calum for support. He noticed Calum gave him a stunned look.

"I did it, I think." Ashton spoke, the colour already starting to return to his face, making it clear to the others how much the dragons’ emotions had been draining him.

Calum looked a little relieved as he looked Ashton up and down, noticing the veiny lines on his wrist were now quickly disappearing as if nothing had happened.

"You right to continue?" Calum asked.

Ashton nodded. He was already feeling a lot better.

They began to walk row after row, their eyes searching for Kaidia among them. Their four hearts sinking with every row that they didn’t find her. Many of the dragons looked sick, their scales were lifeless. Many drained of their colour. Some were pacing around in their small cages. It didn’t take a magical force of upset dragons to make their stomachs twist.

They were getting worried though, there was no sign of Kaidia among them.

Ashton was starting to worry that they'd come to a dead end. Perhaps she wasn't here after all. Maybe they were too late.

They continued to walk the rows, Ashton losing hope with each one. What if they’d come all this way and she wasn’t even here?

Though Ashton paused about half-way down the row, causing the others to shoot him confused glances. He blinked, realising he vaguely sensed something familiar. It was different to all the other dragon's here. The emotions broke through the noise of the other dragons he was blocking out. Without even thinking he broke away from the others and raced down to one of the cages near the end of the row.

He gasped. Simply staring at the scaled purple creature that was being held in the cage. The tiny dragon was fast asleep. Her scales were already a much paler colour then they should've been. She didn’t look so good. Ashton was sure Hagrid would've looked after her properly. He clenched his fists angrily, wishing he could break the bars on the cage.

"Guys! I found her!" Ashton yelled to the others, who were still a few cages back, glancing in them.

The three of them quickly turned up, their eyes lighting up as they raced to join them. The three of them crowding around the cage with Ashton.

"It is her." Michael gasped.

No one spoke, the others just nodding as they stared at her. They couldn’t believe that they’d found her.

"She doesn't look well though." Luke frowned, noticing what Ashton had. "Look at how pale her scales are."

Ashton could only nod. He felt Calum's sympathetic hand on his shoulder. He felt terrible for not fighting to keep her, once Professor Batts had found out. Or at the very least trusting Luke when she'd been down at Hagrid's. Maybe he could've done something to fix this. Though as he looked around at the other dragons, he remembered it wasn't just Kaidia caught up in this it was all the other dragons in this room as well. He desperately wanted to get them out of their cages and set them free.

Suddenly a bright light was shone into their faces. Ashton let out a yell, quickly covering his eyes from the light. He looked up noticing a group of people with wands standing on a platform up above. He heard their yells and realised that they'd been spotted.

He frowned, Calum's spell had clearly worn off, making them visible to all. Before any of the four of them could process what was happening, a loud alarm noise was triggered echoing through the mostly metal room. Calum was quick to raise his wand, reapplying the protection spell to hide them from view.

"We have to go." Calum frowned, nodding to the others. Calum gestured a certain way and Michael quickly took after him. Luke started to run but noticed that Ashton was still standing there staring at Kaidia trapped in the cage.

"Ash, we have to leave now." Luke yelled, though he paused, his gaze sympathetic, "We have to leave her, I'm sorry."

Ashton looked back at Kaidia for a moment. "I'll be back for you later." He promised, his words tinged with regret. These people couldn't know how important she was, or it was possible they might hurt her.

He nodded to Luke, and the two of them raced to join the others who were waiting up ahead. They started to run, but as they came to end of the row. The four of them froze, hesitating at the numerous corridors that lead out the large room.

"Wait, which way did we come in here?" Michael frowned.

"I don't remember. Everything in here looks the same?" Calum frowned, spinning in circles as he eyes the possible exits, there was at least three corridors that lead out of them room on this side alone. Which one was it?

"Let's just take one." Luke frowned, glancing briefly up at the blinking lights up above, "It's better than just sticking here waiting to be caught."

No one was about to argue with him, Calum quickly chose a door, and everyone followed him. They ran along a dark corridor that seemed to wind forever. Hopefully out. Ashton thought to himself. Though he knew this wasn’t the way that they had used to get down here.

They could hear heavy footsteps from behind them, so they didn't slow down until they came to a metal door at the end of the corridor. It was the only option out of here without going back the way they’d come.

"Let's try this door." Luke suggested, slowing down as they made it, "It might lead outside."

Calum nodded, and then pushed on it. It opened easily at his touch. They didn't find themselves outside though. It simply seemed to be an office. Pages of notes were stacked up on one side of the room, held down by a dragon looking paperweight. Though Calum grinned noticing there was another doorway, light trickled in under it.

"There's another door." Calum nodded. He raced over towards it, quickly trying alohomora before pushing on the handle again. However, it wouldn't budge, more desperate this time he repeated the words. Yet that didn't seem to be working. As Calum stepped away, frowning. Michael tried the spell a few times, groaning as it was unsuccessful.

Meanwhile Luke's eyes were scanning over the desk, Ashton hovering nearby keeping an eye on the doorway.

"Look at all this though." Luke frowned leafing over the pages of the desk.

Ashton looked over Luke's shoulder, realising that there was seemingly notes on various dragon's housed here. He frowned noticing that there were stamps on some of the papers. Some seemed to suggest that dragons were sold off whilst others were given other purposes. Both their stomach's twisted as they read.

His eyes rested on a page with about ten dragons listed and a date from earlier in the week.

"What is this?" Ashton asked, "Wait are those notes from the other day? Is Kaidia on there."

Luke’s eyes blinked in alarm as he followed Ashton’s gaze. He quickly scanned down the page, before flicking avidly through the paperclipped pages behind it. He stopped on a certain report. His eyes quickly skimming over it.

"They think Kaidia's scales grant wishes?" Luke frowned a moment later, showing Ashton the report.

Before Ashton could react, the door slammed shut behind them. An older woman had appeared dressed in black robes and a shiny pin shimmered from her chest. She was now standing in front of the closed door a wand in her hand that was glowing with light. The four of them froze, Michael and Calum quickly quitting their escape. Luke and Ashton paused their reading.

"Found you." She smirked, her voice vibrating right through the office.

The four of them gulped. Calum's spell wasn't strong enough. She could see them, her eyes moving easily between the four of them. They realised they were trapped; the door had been their last chance.

Calum fumbled for his wand, his mind racing for a spell that would protect them. Yet he was too late as the woman raised her wand high into the air. Sending the room into a flurry of white.

As the spell hit the four of them, they grew unconscious, collapsing to the ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	23. Schemes

"Is everyone okay?"

Ashton slowly say up at the voice. It was dim and cold wherever they were. He could still feel a dull ache in his head that seemed to stem from the dragons. They were still close to them. When he focused in on them, he felt the wave of emotions come through at him and he groaned. They were a little too close.

"Ash?" A voice that sounded like Calum asked, "Are you okay?"

Ashton sat up letting his eyes adjusting to the light as he blocked the dragons out once again. He could make out his three friends now, all sitting in the tiny space that was surrounded by a thickly barred cage. Luke had a bruised cheek, Calum who was sitting beside him had messy hair and his arms were covered with bruises, at the other side of him was Michael, who had a few cuts and bruises as well. Ashton's head stung just above his forehead suggesting he had an injury there as well.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Ashton nodded, as he tried to put on the bravest face possible as he glanced at the others. "But, what happened? Last I remember was the bright white light from that woman's wand."

“We were all passed out for a while. They must have used a powerful sleeping spell or something like that. As we’ve all only just woken up.” Luke looked around. “We think they’ve locked us into this cage thing until they decide what they’re going to do with us.”

"Though they didn't take our wands at least." Michael spoke in a whisper, taping his jacket's pocket.

"That's odd, you'd think if they were wizards that they would've taken our wands for sure." Ashton frowned.

"I guess they decided not to." Luke agreed.

No one spoke for a moment as there was a creaking noise up above. The four of them glanced up, listening carefully. Ashton closed his eyes, sensing the light sound of snoring there must have been more dragons nearby.

"So how do you think we get out?" Michael asked taping on the metal bars.

Everyone's eyes searched around them. There wasn't a lot in here to go on. The cage looked to be sealed tight, at least from the inside. Suddenly, Calum's expression lit up at something that was right behind Michael.

"Ah ha! A lock!" Calum yelled. "Michael out the way."

With a quick huff and a nod. The two of them moved around awkwardly so that they could swap places. Now Calum was the one closest to the lock, he gave a quick glance to make sure no one was watching before he reached in his wand pocket quickly producing his wand.

"Alohamora." Calum whispered taping his wand against the lock. He tried pulling on the lock but a moment later nothing had happened. He frowned repeating the phrase again and again. He let out a frustrated groan. Luke, Ashton and Michael's faces fell.

"Alohamora's not working, guys." Calum frowned, "Anyone got another unlocking spell?"

Both Luke and Ashton shook their heads. Ashton could barely remember Alohamora let alone another charm.

"If anyone would have it, it would be you." Michael spoke sadly looking upset.

Frustrated, Calum rested his head up against the bars. He closed his eyes, seeming to be thinking about it.

Michael's eyes were up above, "Do you think there would be a spell we could use to bend the bars, and climb out from above?"

Luke and Ashton considered his words for a moment. Ashton frowned, even if they could there was a chance that the people that had put them here in the first place would catch them again. It was clear that they'd been able to see through Calum's spell. They weren't as powerful as they might seem though by leaving them with their wands.

Luke frowned, his eyes were scanning above as well, "It's a good idea, but I can't think of a spell that could do that."

"Me either." Ashton agreed.

Michael sighed. It wasn't fun having magical powers when you couldn't think of the spell you wanted to do.

The four of them thought it over for a little while longer. Though it seemed that getting out of here was proving a challenge. With Alohamora out of the question they were running out of options.

Suddenly, Luke sat up. "Alright I have an idea."

Michael and Ashton's heads quickly turned to him. Calum's eyes snapped open and glanced over to him.

"For starters. Let's work out what we know about these people and it might be able to help us come up with a plan get out." Luke suggested to the others.

The rest of the group nodded; they were all out of a better idea. Besides it seemed, Luke could be onto something.

"Well we know that they're keeping us and all of the dragons in cages." Michael answered quickly, "And that alohomora doesn't work on the locks."

"Good. What else?" Luke asked.

"We know that they're trying to sell them off illegally." Calum nodded, "Though I think some of them they're using to get ingredients for spells and their own purposes. That's why they look so sickly"

Ashton nodded quickly, remembering what Luke and he had read about Kaidia. "They want Kaidia because they believe she grants wishes."

Michael and Calum both looked surprised, as they hadn't read that information. They'd both been more focused on getting the four of them out.

"Wish we knew about that." Michael smiled half-heartedly.

Calum's eyes lit up, seemingly ignoring Michael, "That makes sense why they might have attacked the truck though. There’s lots of people who would want to have numerous wishes. Someone who wants a lot of power would dream of owning a dragon like that.”

The other three nodded. Silently they knew almost anyone would want to possess a power like that.

"Yes. We need to find out what they wanted with her though. Like what they wanted to wish for or who would want to make a wish that badly that they'd pay a lot of money for her." Luke explained.

Ashton shivered a little. He'd hate to think what kind of wishes people would make if that sort of power made it out there or into the hands of non-magical people. The stakes had just been raised.

"I also think that some of the people here were muggles and other were witches and wizards. Especially as they’ve left us with wands." Luke frowned, "It must be breaking hundreds of Ministry rules. The fact that muggles alone are involved is bad enough. It breaks the International Statue of Secrecy."

"Yeah, I think so too. I’m surprised they’re not onto it already. Besides I'm pretty sure we've established what they’re doing is illegal." Calum frowned leaning back on the end of the bar.

Michael and Ashton both nodded. It was becoming apparent that they were caught up in something much further beyond them.

"Actually, now we’re talking about the Ministry, I think I might have an idea." Luke nodded.

"You do?" Michael looked stunned.

Luke nodded, "Don't hate me for suggesting this but I think we need to shift our goal."

The other three gave him stunned looks. What did Luke mean by shifting their goal? Weren’t they here to try to rescue Kaidia?

"Rather than focusing on rescuing Kaidia. I think we need to work on getting ourselves completely out of here and immediately take the issue up with the ministry." Luke continued, "They have a lot more power than we do, they could get this place shut down in an instant."

"Great idea, but we'll risk getting ourselves in trouble." Calum frowned. Ashton nodded; they were already in enough trouble at Hogwarts for keeping a dragon in the first place. Let alone, leaving the grounds without permission, entering the forbidden forest and going to search for a dragon that was taken from them in the beginning. It didn't look good for them at all. They'd probably be expelled from Hogwarts immediately.

"All of these dragons are in trouble." Luke frowned gesturing outside the cage. Ashton sighed, that was true as well. None of the dragons looked happy here and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing the emotions that had passed through him.

Ashton and Michael were both silent. Neither was sure whether to take Luke or Calum's side on this one. Both Luke and Calum just looked stressed.

"I don't know Luke; doesn't the Ministry take a long time to deal with this sort of thing though? There would have to be investigations, reports drawn up." Michael sighed, "It would take them a while to get here, by that time how many more dragons could be sold or hurt? I'm sure illegal dragons rate highly, but not quickly enough to help."

"The ministry isn't that bad. Though yeah, I guess your right mum's always complaining to me how long it takes her to get anything done." Luke sighs.

"Well though at this rate it has to be faster than us being trapped in a cage." Calum frowned. "I just wish I could think of the spell."

Ashton wasn't listening to the other three though. He'd turned around behind him to where a giant silver scaled dragon was sleeping. It was strange there was something about the dragon that felt different to the others. Maybe it was the fact it was the one closest to them. He'd wanted to try communicating with another dragon other than Kaidia, perhaps this was his chance.

_'Excuse me.' _He thought to the dragon.

The dragon shuffled slightly in its cage. Ashton blinked, had the dragon heard him.

_'Excuse me. Can you hear me?' _He thought again.

The dragon's eyes fluttered open this time. He turned his head curiously at Ashton.

_'Oh, good you are awake.' _He thought in relief. Hoping that the dragon had woken up because he had heard him not because of something else. 'Sorry to disturb you.'

_'I understand you?' _A voice replied. Ashton could only assume that it belonged to the dragon in front of him. Its eyes were wide and confused.

_'Yeah, uh, I'm a wizard and I uh...can communicate with dragons. Hi.' _Ashton explained, his heart racing quickly. He was so excited. Perhaps if he could find out what was going on, then they could help the dragons get out.

_'It's strange you look just like him.' _A voice replied. Ashton could only assume that it belonged to the dragon in front of him.

_'Look like who?' _Ashton asked puzzled.

_'Long ago I knew one wizard who could communicate with us.' _The dragon responded. _'His name was Benjamin, but that must've been at least a century ago now. So, you can’t be him.'_

Ashton straightened remembering the witches’ words, about an older man with a dragon like Kaidia. Was it possible he was related to this Benjamin person somehow? He didn't know much about his family past his parents and grandmother, so it was possible. This dragon must be centuries old.

_'Can you tell me more?' _Ashton thought, forgetting his purpose for a moment.

_'Ben was a friend to all of us. He healed us and took care of us.' _The dragon explained, _'He could even draw on the powers of the dragons to increase his own magic. It was a good time while he was around.'_

Could Ashton do that too he wondered? He thought of more of the witches’ words, that he could be the one to mend the relationship between the magical world and the dragons. Could he be like Ben?

_'It must've been amazing.'_

_'It was.' _The dragon agreed wistfully. Seemingly suggesting it had been a much better time than the dragon was in now. It made Ashton’s heart ache just thinking about it.

_'Shame it's not like that now…” _Ashton frowned. ‘Though do you know what these people are doing by keeping you all here in cages?’

_'None of us are sure. Some dragons disappear, others have been sick. They check on us a lot take samples. My main complaint is they don't feed us much.' _The dragon explained. There was a small growling noise from the dragons’ stomach as if to prove his point.

Ashton frowned. It was as they'd suspected. No wonder the dragons looked so unwell; they wouldn't be able to handle the amount of testing with such little food. The dragons that disappeared were clearly the ones that were being sold off.

_'I forgot to ask, what's your name?' _Ashton questioned the dragon.

_‘Zorserat.’ _The dragon replied with a nod of the head.

_'I'm Ashton.' _He told the dragon, _'I swear we'll find a way to get you guys out of here.'_

The dragon nodded.

There was a loud cough, and Ashton felt someone nudge strongly onto his shoulder. He blinked and turned quickly back behind him.

"Ash, are you listening to us?" Calum asked looking nervous.

Ashton quickly shook his head, turning back to the others "Uh, I was kind of talking to my new friend here, Zorserat." He spoke gesturing back to the cage behind him where the dragon was now staring over at them.

The others were wide eyed.

"You found another dragon to communicate with?" Michael asked excitedly, "That proves it, you must be able to communicate with all of them."

Ashton nodded before he quickly shared with them what the dragon had told him including the part about Ben.

"You know I think I've heard of him." Michael nodded, "I think there's a whole book on him in the library back at Hogwarts. I didn't realise he could actually communicate with the dragons though or I might have suggested we look at him sooner"

Ashton's eyes lit up. That would be amazing. He looked forward to it…if they ever made it out of here. He let out a long sigh.

"In any case. Michael thinks he's worked out a spell that might get us out...though it could get a little explosive. We were trying to tell you to stand back, but you were off in space...well talking to the dragon but you know what we mean." Luke nodded. "We're going to get out and I'm going to send a letter to my mother at the Ministry of Magic to see if she can get a team to come out and help us."

Ashton nodded it sounded like a decent plan if they could pull it off. He could talk to dragons, but he didn't think it would be enough to get them out on its own.

Michael flexed his hands, before pulling his wand from his pocket, "Alright, stand back everyone." Michael grinned, "This could be a messy spell."

There was a creaking noise up above them. Then the heavy sound of human footsteps. The three of them froze as Michael raised his wand. Luke put his hand on Michael's shoulder and shook his head.

"Wait, you better stop. I think someone's coming." Luke whispered.

Sure enough a few seconds later a door on the other side of the room opened a woman entered dressed in fancy looking witches' robes. She was young, probably only in her later twenties, early thirties. She walked between the cages her eyes scanning over them.

"Good morning." She spoke to the four of them, as she stopped in front of the cages. She viewed them carefully.

Calum sat up straighter, "Good morning." He choked out.

"I really wish you'd called ahead. If I'd known, we were going to have such interesting guests I would've made better space for you." She smiled warmly as if she would’ve found them something then a cage to be housed in. Her eyes moved to Ashton, "Curious to find a wizard who understands dragons as if they were humans." She spoke with a smile at him. "Ministry members sons." She looked between Luke and Calum. She paused "Ah, and you, yes I worked with your father once a long time ago. It's a shame our paths diverged he always loved working in this industry."

Michael looked slightly horrified. Luke turned a stunned question and mouthed to him asking if he knew.

"Wouldn't your school love to know where you are." She smiled smugly. The four of them exchanged nervous glances. Was she going to dob them into the school for being here? For a moment the four of them weren’t sure what was worse.

"It's a difficult situation we're in you see, we can't harm you and we can't keep you for long either." She sighed, "Ah, but these talents are too good to waste...I saw those charms you've been working. Most graduated wizards would struggle with charms like that."

Calum bit his lip, hanging his head slightly.

"I was thinking that perhaps the four of you would like to help us out here. You could work here on the weekends, think of it like work experience. We'd pay you well for your efforts..."

Ashton couldn't believe this. They'd come here to save the dragons not to help people continue to do this.

He started to yell, "What make you think we'd do that. We'd never-"

"Ssh-" Luke broke him off shaking his head, "Listen."

Ashton looked at him in confusion, as he backed down. What was Luke doing?

"Ah, a wise young man." The woman spoke fondly smiling at Luke. "So, what do you boys say?"

"I'm interested." Luke smiled up at her.

Calum, Ashton and Michael looked at him in disbelief. None of them were sure whether he was being serious or not or this was all part of some other plan. You could never quite tell with Luke it seemed.

"Luke what are you doing?" Michael hissed at him, as Luke moved closer to the end of the bar.

"I'm getting us out of this." Luke whispered, barely moving his mouth.

Michael didn't react at those words. He simply sat back, as the woman decided to let Luke out. None of them rammed the door, they were waiting to see what Luke's next move was. They knew Luke was idiot.

Luke was talking sweetly to her, as if he were truly interested. He taped on his pocket where the others knew his wand was kept.

Calum blinked in realisation, what Luke was trying to tell them, "Michael. Try the spell."

Michael blinked at him, "Huh?"

"While Luke's distracting her. Try the spell." Calum explained.

"Oh, okay." Michael nodded, grabbing the wand from his pocket. "Stand back guys."

Michael whispered the spell quietly under his breath, holding his wand to the lock. He grinned, the spell not having the explosive impact that he worried it might. He could smell the metal burning; he knew he needed to move quickly.

The lock crashed to the ground and Calum reached forwards pushing open the cage. The three of them started to bail out as both Luke and the woman's head turned towards them.

Suddenly everything seemed to move in slow motion. The woman pulled out her wand and struck Luke with a beam of magic and Luke was thrown backwards, his head hitting against the other cage.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She yelled; she pointed her now illuminated wand towards them causing the three of them to freeze. Her face contoured into one of anger. "I've been kind, I haven't tried to hurt you." She narrowed her eyebrows on them, "You thought you could trick me, huh?"

She made a whistling noise and suddenly there was wizards everywhere, evident by the light from their wands. The four of them were horribly outnumbered. Luke was just rising from the ground giving a worried expression.

"I guess we'll just have to make this look like an accident then." She smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o-o
> 
> Thanks for reading! ^^


	24. Is This Our Last Chance?

"I guess we'll just have to make this look like an accident then." The woman smirked as her eyes moved over the three of them.

Ashton's heart sunk as he looked around them. There were dozens of people, no make that wizards up above them from the rafters. The three of them looked up above nervously, as every wand in the room seemed to point in their direction. They were adults not Hogwarts students, so they potentially had many more years of magic training than any of them. From the words the woman had spoken, there was a possibility that they wouldn't mind using one of the unforgivable curses on them. Ashton shivered at the thought.

"We need to stick together." Calum spoke firmly, his eyes were on Luke who was still slumped up against the cage. "Let's move."

No one argued as Calum took off in front towards Luke. Ashton and Michael followed him across the corridor to where Luke was. The moment they moved lights of spells started raining down on them and the three of them worked to dodge them with their movements and wands. Ashton winced as one of the lights grazed his arm.

The moment the three of them reached Luke, Calum raised his wand. He promptly created a protective shield over the four of them. Ashton glanced upwards at the hulking structure that looked like a giant see through red bubble. It pulsed, as spells from up above hit it. Before bouncing the spells back off towards the attacking wizards.

The three of them took a moment to check on Luke who was still slumped up against the cage behind him.

"Luke are you okay?" Michael asked, kneeling to his side.

Luke's head tilted upwards towards him. Ashton took that as a good sign on its own. Luke soon nodded, rubbing on the back of his head. His hand came back with a little blood a moment later.

"My head and back are a little sore, but I think I'm fine." He nodded, although his voice sounded slightly weak.

A wave of relief came over the other three wizards. They'd all been fearful when they'd heard Luke's body hit the bars. Fearing a concussion or something worse at the result of a magic spell. It wasn't a secret that it could've been much worse.

Calum's eyes flickered outside the bubble for a moment. He placed his hand to the shield, giving a small nod. Outside dozens of spells were still being hurled towards it. He'd hoped that they would've given up by now.

Calum turned back to the others; his expression was a little downhearted. "Alright, so I think we need a new plan as to how we're getting out of here." He explained. "This spell I've used won't hold for long if they keep attacking it like this."

The other three glanced up at the bubble-like structure that was shielding them. Ashton could already see tiny hairline cracks forming in the bubbly surface. As more strikes hit, it wouldn't be long before the entire thing came crumbling down. Exposing them to the spells that were being launched from above. Ashton found himself nodding, they needed to find another plan.

"Maybe we just go out there with all our spells and hope for the best?" Michael wondered aloud to the others.

"No way, we barely made it across to Luke before." Ashton shook his head. Besides Calum would probably be the only one with a chance. Even then the odds didn't seem to be in anyone’s favour. The wizards had an advantage from being high above them.

"What about if we just made a run for it then? Like we're running to get out of the rain?" Michael suggested.

"Same problem." Ashton frowned.

It was then that a loud cracking noise ripped through above them. The four of them glanced opening noticing a bunch of smaller cracks had formed up into a larger one. The wizards above were shooting all their spells towards it.

"We're running out of time." Luke frowned glancing upwards. With a nervous nod, Calum agreed with him.

"Maybe I could use that spell that makes us appear in invisible, then make a gap in the shield so we can escape..." Calum tried, seemingly running out of ideas.

"Didn't they see us before though? I don't think that spell works with these people." Luke quickly shook his head. They'd had one of Calum's invisibility spell on when that woman had found them.

Michael nodded, "Besides they'd see even one part of the bubble fall and they'd just shoot spells towards that area. It's too risky."

Everyone let out a sigh there was no easy way to get out of here it seemed. Especially now that these people had realised that they were trying to escape.

"What if we ran in sperate directions?" Ashton wondered with a frown.

Though Luke quickly shot that down in flames, with a shake of his head. "No way, not all of us are good enough at charms for that to work." Luke spoke, he looked sheepishly between Ashton and Michael, "No offence guys but I think Calum would be the only one of us with a shot."

"True." Michael agreed, shooting a sympathetic glance at Ashton who looked a little disappointed.

All four of them were running out of ideas, as they sat in silence trying to think of a way out.

There was another cracking noise from up above. The cracks were getting larger and more spread out. Any moment now and the entire bubble would smash into dozens of tiny pieces. His heart sunk; they'd failed.

It was too much like what had happened at the lake with the sirens. They could try a million different things and never find a way out. Right now, they were awfully outnumbered and nowhere near skilled enough to form a magical plan of escape. This time no one was going to come to their rescue like the witch had. This was the time for random bursts of spells either, they had to think of the safety of the dragons as well.

The dragons.

Ashton blinked, why hadn't he thought of them sooner. Quickly an idea formed in his mind, as he thought of the story that the older dragon had told him about, Ben. That old wizard had seemingly held the same or at least incredibly similar abilities to Ashton. Was it possible that he could do the same? He bit his lip realising what he might be able to do to help them out of here.

Coming back to reality. Luke and Michael were arguing over using some more magic spell or another. Calum was looking at them hopelessly, his eyes flickering up to the roof of the bubble every few moments.

Ashton gave a slight cough, turning the other three wizard’s attention to him. "Guys I think I might have another idea. Though you might just have to trust me on this one as it's a little hard to explain." He told them.

As expected, the three of them shot each other confused glances. As if they were unsure whether to believe him or not. Every other idea they'd had was shot down quickly, there was no way of them knowing whether Ashton's would be any different from those. Everyone knew Ashton wasn't that great at spells, sometimes they were too strong, other times they were too weak. Everyone knew by this point that even though Ashton could communicate with them there was no known way that the dragons trapped in their cages could help either.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Calum frowned back at him.

Ashton pulled his wand out from his coat pocket, "I'm not exactly sure to be honest, but I'm hoping it's going to work. When I say so, I want you to drop the barrier. Okay?"

"Okay." Calum agreed, though he didn't look a hundred percent convinced of Ashton's plan. Especially one that involved a wand.

Ashton held his wand in his hand as he closed his eyes and mentally urged the dragons to help him. He felt nothing for a moment, not even their pain. He quickly doubted whether this was going to work. Please, he begged them. He frowned, coming back with no response. Maybe they really were too weak to help him.

Yet suddenly there was a large dragon in his vision. It reminded him of the old dragon he had just spoken to whilst they were still in the cage. He felt a surge of electricity race though his skin as the tip of his wand lit up. Suddenly he saw more dragons, unfamiliar ones. The light of his wand tip grew brighter with the connection of each one. He could've sworn he saw Kaidia among them, but there was so many that each dragon in his vision was barely a flicker. He had no idea how this was going to work, but with the way his wand was lighting up he decided to trust them.

"Now!" He yelled out to Calum. As he opened his eyes, quickly shutting them again as he was almost blinded by the bright light that was hovering just above his wands tip.

Calum must've raised his own wand because a second later the barrier around them shattered in an explosion of sound. Just as a dragon like creature seemed to emerge from the tip of Ashton's wand created in a powerful blue fire. Every wizard in the room seemed to freeze, their eyes on the blue dragon. Ashton stared up at in stunned awe as he rose from the ground. Who said he wasn't good at spells? This one was incredible.

The blue dragon seemed to hover in front of him for a moment, its eyes scanning around the room. Some of the wizards looked petrified, the lights from their wands faded, whilst others simply glared back in challenge their wands growing brighter.

There was a roaring noise and suddenly the dragon took off at speed. Suddenly wizards began to let out frightened yells as the dragon came rocketing towards them. The blue dragon seemed to pass through each of them like a ghost. Ashton noticed how it didn't seem to harm any of them though. As the dragon passed through them, they would simply yawn, and fall asleep in spot at its touch. The wand lights around them quickly faded as it passed.

It zoomed its way all over the room until it came to the woman who had started all of this in the first place. The dragon let out a low growl as it darted straight for her. Clearly saving her for last.

She didn't look afraid though, the lady simply grinned as a similar shadowy like bear creature emerged from her wand. Ashton blinked in horrified recognition. It was the shadowy creature that had chased Calum and Ashton through the Forbidden forest that night when they'd tried to return Kaidia. Had they been after her since way back then? Was this what he had been supposed to protect her from?

He was starting to wonder, his mind going over the events of that night. When he'd first found Kaidia he'd seen bright shooting lights heading towards a larger dragon. Could that dragon have been one of the ones that was here captured? Was it possible that dragon had simply been trying to protect Kadia that night? It seemed this was who that bird was trying to protect Kaidia from. He'd always known it meant something, but he hadn't expected to find his answer here.

Things were looking bad here though, as the ghost like dragon shot upwards, skittering quickly away from the bear like creature. It shot straight up to the ceiling before darting back down towards the four of them still sitting in front of the cage. The dragon seemed to pause hovering behind them. He heard Calum let out a gasp behind him as the dragons' head was near his shoulder. It was like it was waiting for something.

The woman turned back to them, her smile breaking into a wicked grin as she seemed to realise that the dragon wouldn't challenge her conjured bear so easily.

"No so clever now, are we?" She teased, "It's futile you can't beat us. Even with your dragon party trick. Last chance, lay down your wand and perhaps I'll let the four of you make it out alive."

Ashton gritted his teeth, bothered by her words. He'd discovered something awesome and it had put the odds back in their favour. Yet it was obvious they were still at a disadvantage. Ashton had no idea how this dragon he'd seemingly conjured worked or the extent of his abilities. Whereas this woman it seemed probably knew her abilities inside and out.

He glared at her. "Perhaps we should be saying the same to you."

She smiled at him for that seemingly amused. Though she was fast raising her wand towards them, sending the four of them and the ghost like dragon flying backwards. Ashton struggled to keep a hold of his wand barely catching it before it fell. As the four of them collided into the cage that was still behind them.

Calum was quick to raise his wand, creating a protective barrier. He winced a little though looking weak. Ashton knew that he could only create so many barriers. They were powerful magic and would quickly weaken him.

Luke raised an eyebrow, as the four of them rose, all of them slightly battered from the impact, he frowned at Ashton, "Perhaps think about it before you threaten the woman that's angry us."

Both Calum and Michael shot him a glare, as Ashton felt his cheeks grow hot.

Luke wasn’t looking at them now, his eyes were on the dragon, that was hovering just above them as if waiting for something.

Luke frowned up at it, “Do you think it can help us?” He asked.

The others all turned their heads up to the dragon. As Luke turned raising his wand, as he deflected one of the woman’s oncoming attacks in a beam of bright green light. It wasn’t as long lasting as Calum’s spells, but it was enough.

Ashton looked up at the dragon, “What do we do now?”

The dragon didn’t speak, it only nodded at him. It flew towards him, as it had the others. For a moment he feared it would put them asleep as well. Yet it seemed to disappear as it collided with his chest. The others letting out sharp yells.

For a moment Ashton felt nothing, as he saw the end of the ghost like dragons’ tail disappear.

Yet suddenly he found himself turning, facing the witch and her bear like creature head on. He raised his wand, yelling a spell he was positive that he didn’t know. A strong pink light emerged from his wand soaring towards her. The woman quickly raised her own wand, an electric blue light stemming from it. The two-power collided, neither seeming to be able to defeat the other or protect it. Ashton grunted as he could feel himself weakening, this woman was too strong. Even with the dragon’s help he still couldn’t beat her.

He felt himself loosing hope as the blue light began to take over the pink.

That’s when he saw Michael raise his wand, then Luke, then Calum. Three beams of light seemed to swirl and conjoin with the pink one. As the final one from Calum joined, the power coming from their end seemed to surge forcing the electric blue light back all the way to the wand. The wand shattered into a dozen pieces and the woman was thrown backwards in an explosion of sound and light.

The four of them were thrown backwards slightly, Ashton let out a yell as his wand burned hot before the light coming from it faded. Had they won?

They weren’t certain, they looked over where the lady was lying, her bear like creature had long disappeared. Hesitantly and without a sound the four of them walked over to her. Slightly afraid at what they had done. Luke moved in front of the others, listening to her breaths as they quietly rose and fell.

“She’s just knocked out, kind of like the others.” Luke observed, he backed away quickly as if he didn’t want to get too close.

“Thank goodness,” Michael sighed, looking relieved.

The four of them, looked to one another grinning. They were all exhausted from their high-level use of magic, but it seemed that they’d pulled this off.

Ashton turned, looking to the old dragon who had given him the idea resting peacefully in his cage. He already looked much healthier, perhaps the woman had been keeping the Dragons weak with her magic. That or the spell that he had just used. He walked over slowly, the others standing and waiting behind him.

“Thank you.” Ashton spoke warmly to the old dragon.

He nodded, sharing the warmth, ‘No problem, my friend.’

Ashton smiled nodding gently.

“So, what do we do about all of these people?” Michael frowned, quickly breaking the moment. He gestured around them to the sleeping wizards.

“I have an idea.” Calum grinned.

The others shot him confused glances but before they could do anything Calum had already raised his wands, “Leviscorpous.” He spoke, suddenly all the wizard’s wands around them seemed to raise into the air.

Luke seeming to get the idea, opened his hands as if catching a ball. A moment later and he had about a dozen wands in his hands. Calum then used magic to bind the wands together before putting on a protective spell that would wear off in a few hours.

“That should do the trick.” Calum grinned.

Michael and Ashton both nodded.

“In any case I noticed that they had owls in the other room. An anonymous tip off to the ministry probably won’t hurt.” Luke suggested.

“Good idea.” Michael and Calum quickly agreed.

“Wait guys, first I have to find her again.” Ashton spoke, biting on his lip.

The other three nodded quickly in understanding.

“Can and I will go send the owl and you go with Michael and find Kaidia. Problem solved.” Luke nodded.

Ashton agreed and the two groups quickly split off to complete their jobs.

By the time Michael and Ashton found Kaidia’s cage, she was sitting up now. He scales were still much paler than usual, but they were a lot better than they had been.

Michael used a few different spells but finally got the lock to open. Ashton reached in and picked Kaidia up into his hands. The little dragon wiggled at his touch, but soon relaxed. He pulled her to his chest, and stroked the tiny dragon on the head, “It’s okay, we’re here now.”

Michael smiled, and Ashton pushed Kaidia towards him. Michael gave Kaidia a little scratch on the head.

"The Ministry will hopefully find a place for the others, probably they'll be sent to the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania." Michael nodded.

"Yeah, hopefully." He nodded looking around at the dragons. He couldn't help but notice how much the mood had changed, they still felt sad, sick and everything in between but he could sense their hope. He figured that they were going to be okay.

Luke and Calum met back up with them not long after, they’d successfully sent three owls to the ministry. Directing them straight to the Ministry of Magic, the head of the Magical Creatures division and another to Luke’s mother. Luke hoped that they’d arrive soon, it wouldn’t take the owls to make it to the ministry.

Once outside, Ashton and Michael located the thestrals where they’d left them earlier. Then the four of them and Kaidia mounted onto thestrals and flew of into them into the night. No one knew what would greet them onto their return to Hogwarts. All they could hope was that no one had realised they were missing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! ^^


	25. Finale

Night had descended over the hills of Hogwarts and its surrounds. Ashton felt content at the Thestrals flew over the great lake. The illuminated, spiring towers of Hogwarts were now in sight. He'd never felt so glad to see them in all his years of attending the school. They flew right over the top of the Forbidden forest, the creatures steering them well clear of the whomping willow.

The four of them had switched places from the ride over. Luke was clinging tightly onto Ashton's back as the two creatures descended towards the castle’s grounds.

On their way back they'd gone to return the thestrals to the lady. However, she'd told them as it was already getting late to take them the rest of the journey back to Hogwarts. Apparently from there the two creatures would be able to find their way back on their own.

She'd received them warmly, offering them snacks for the journey home. She'd smiled as her eyes had rested on Kaidia, who had been sleeping tiredly in Ashton's arms. They had thanked her profusely for her help before taking off into the sky once more.

As expected, Luke's grip grew tighter the closer to the ground they were. It was obvious that he still didn't enjoy the sensation of riding on something that he couldn't see. The two thestrals landed safely on the ground. Ashton helped Luke off, and Michael did the same for Calum. Both looked relieved to have their feet back on the ground.

Both Ashton and Michael gave their thestrals a pat, thanking them before bidding them farewell. The two thestrals broke in a run before lifting off high into the air. Ashton and Michael watched them sombrely as they disappeared into the night. Luke and Calum couldn't see the creatures leave, but they followed their friend’s gazes.

Once the thestrals were out of Michael and Ashton sight, the four of them headed back towards the castle. They wound their way up the hill and in one of the back entries. The secret passage into Gryffindor tower was in a risky spot if the Professors could see the thestrals. Therefore, Michael had suggested that they try and make it to the Slytherin common room instead as it was much closer.

They walked silently through the marbled hallways, Michael and Luke leading the way towards the Slytherin common room. The hallways were silent and they both assured that they weren't all that far away.

"Oi. What are you four doing out here? It's way past curfew."

Calum instantly paled, realizing he'd forgotten to use an invisibility spell once they'd entered the castle. They let out a sharp yell, Ashton almost dropped Kaidia to the ground. Cautiously they turned to find Professor Batts was standing behind them looking unimpressed. Their stomachs sunk realising that they'd been caught.

Professor Batts eyes quickly fell to the scaly purple object in Ashton's arms. The woman's eyes narrowed, and steam was practically coming from her ears. Unlike thestrals, Kaida wasn't invisible to other people’s eyes.

"Where did that dragon come from?" Professor Batts questioned with a frustrated expression.

The four of them exchanged nervous glances, no one was sure how to answer her. Did they pretend that this was a different dragon? Did they deny the whole thing? Maybe they should just try to explain themselves. There was no good outcome, the four of them would be expelled from Hogwarts for sure.

Luke stepped forwards, deciding to attempt to explain the situation to her. The three of them nodded along as Luke quickly explained the details of their adventure. At the end he looked at Professor Batts, with a pleading expression and said, "Please don't be mad at us, but we had to do something."

At the end of Luke's story Professor Batts simply sucked in a deep breath. She looked almost disappointed in them. It took her a long time to respond, as she seemed to be lost in thought over all that Luke had told her. The four of them shuffled nervously. They exchanged glances every now and again as they waited for her decision.

"That does sound like quite the adventure." She spoke, calmly her voice not giving her away her opinion on the matter. The four guys held their breath. She sighed. "Honestly, I wish you had at least told someone where you were planning on going. The four of you definitely broke at least a million school rules along the way."

The four of them sunk their heads. Here it came, here was the part where they were expelled or sentenced to a billion detentions.

"However, I can see the courage it took to pull of what you did." She spoke softly, the four of them blinked at her, "So on this occasion, I've decided not to punish the four of you further. Provided that this doesn't happen again, and that you continue to turn up to the remainder of your detentions over the coming weeks." Professor Batts let out a long sigh, her gaze moving to Luke, "And Luke I expect you to be present at detention with the other three from here on out."

Luke let out a long sigh but nodded. All of them knew that the four of them were getting off incredibly lightly. Luke was just relieved he'd decided to tell the truth, otherwise he was sure that the four of them would've been expelled by now.

Professor Batts's gaze had turned to Ashton now.

"What intrigues me the most about Luke's story though, is you Ashton." She spoke, smiling warmly at him. "I've never heard of someone with your skill before in decades. Being able to converse with Dragons is a rare and powerful thing. A skill that you're incredibly lucky to possess."

Ashton blinked; it was strange the truth being out here in the open like this. That it wasn't just a secret between him and his friends anymore. He simply nodded.

"Unfortunately, though, even with your skill. I can't allow you to keep a dragon on campus." She spoke, sounding sympathetic, "She'll need to be sent to Romania, where she'll be with others of her kind."

Ashton gave the sleeping dragon in his arms a gentle stroke, allowing himself to take in the roughness of her cool, scaly surface. He sucked in a deep breath; he knew that this might be the case if they brought her back here.

Slowly he nodded. He could sense the shocked looks on his friends faces. Yet he knew it was the best place for her. She needed to be with other dragons, and he knew after today that they would all be there to protect her.

"Okay."

******

It was early the next morning when the three of them were called to Professor Batts office before classes started. Last night, Ashton had rescinded responsibility of the dragon back to his teacher until they came to pick her up to take her to Romania the following morning. He knew the other three had been shocked, but they all understood his decision when he'd verbalised it to the group.

The moment the four of them entered the room, Ashton had sensed the rise in the tiny dragon’s mood. She looked more comfortable today, sat on a purple velvet pillow on the professor’s desk.

"You can talk with her, but they will be here to pick her up soon." Professor Batts explained as the four of them stood before her desk.

Ashton and the other had nodded, grateful that they were being given a chance to say a proper farewell. The four of them crowded around the dragon, offering Kaidia their best wishes and their farewells.

Ashton's heart was heavy as he tried to convince the dragon that this was the right thing to do. He knew it would be hard on them both; but he knew that she couldn't stay here either.

"You're going to love Romania," Ashton promised the little dragon as he showed her the brochure that was sitting beside the pillow. There were pictures of dozens of dragons and wide-open spaces. He smiled, it looked perfect. He couldn't have imagined a better place for her.

_'It looks good, but I want to stay with all of you.' _She whined.

"We'll be allowed to come and visit but their right. I realise now that Hogwarts isn't the best place for you. Ashton nodded to her. "I think this was my job all along to make sure you made it there."

_'I'll miss you.'_

"Me too." He agreed rubbing her on the head.

There was a knock on the door and all their heads turned.

_'Goodbye.' _Ashton thought as they closed the doors behind, and a second later he felt the bond disappear with it.

The four of them thanked Professor Batts before they headed off towards their first class of the morning.

"Are you sad?" Michael had asked, as they walked down the stone staircase.

Ashton thought about it for a moment. He could feel both Luke and Calum waiting for his answer with worried expressions. They'd fought so hard to get her back, and now she was gone again.

"Of course, I am." Ashton spoke, "But I think it'll be good for her. The carers there are supposed to be great. It'll be much better for her than being trapped in our room all day." Ashton nodded, "Besides I was thinking that once I graduate, I'd like to work at the Sanctuary in Romania one day."

Calum smiled warmly, "I can see that working out."

"Me too." Michael agreed with a smug look. Luke simply nodded, a look of relief on his face.

****

The next few months passed quickly; detention was soon declared over. The four of them had visited Romania on a few selected weekends. Kaidia seemed happy. It seemed that life in the sanctuary suited her. She'd made friends with most of the dragons there and had wanted Ashton and the rest of his friends to meet them all.

Ashton recognised many of them from the ones kept in that horrible location. He was relieved to see that they seemed happier and much healthier. Being around them, all seemed to increase his energy rather than drain it and for that he was thankful. Ashton was glad that the choice had worked out well for all involved. The wizards involved had been heavily charged by the ministry of magic for their actions.

Since their adventure Ashton had decided to focus on learning more about dragons. He wanted to work in Romania with the dragons someday, so it meant working hard. He knew that being surrounded by dragons every day would be the most amazing thing.

He'd also found a book about Benjamin in the library, the only known person in recent times that shared the same ability as him. As he'd seen the picture in the book, he'd quickly understood why the old dragon had said he looked just like him. His hair was different sure, more slicked back like what was popular at the time. Yet he could see enough of the resemblance to know that they were somehow related. He was relieved almost to discover some part of his magical heritage. Noting that the book listed Benjamin as a muggle born as well. It made the discovery even more special.

Today Ashton's mind wasn't on dragons though. It was the end of the Quidditch season.

It was the Grand Final between Gryffindor and Slytherin. He would be playing alongside Calum and the rest of their team-mates. Though he also knew that they'd be up against Luke. All three claimed that it didn't bother them but there was still a fierce rivalry between the three of them especially since the match was decided. Michael had been caught in the middle of it all. Declaring with slight frustration that he'd be supporting both teams at the upcoming match.

Dressed in their Quidditch robes, Ashton watched as Calum paced around the change room. He'd been doing so for at least the past half an hour much like he had before his first game as captain.

"Should we be worried?" Carter frowned to Ashton, gesturing towards their nervous team-mate.

Ashton shook his head, trying to remain calm, "No I don't think so. He'll be right by the game." He silently hoped his friend would be at least.

Eventually an unfamiliar person dressed in Hufflepuff robes called them out to the pitch. With the rest of their team-mates the Gryffindors walked through the tunnel. Soon coming to the pitch. The moment they began to exit the tunnel, the crowd erupted into loud cheers.

The entire Gryffindor team took to the pitch shooting up high into the air on their broomsticks. Their cheers were loud and the mood inside the entire Quidditch stadium was electric. The Slytherin team soon joined them as well. Luke shot Ashton a wave as he zoomed down below.

It seemed like everyone from the other houses had adopted a side. Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's were wearing Slytherin and Gryffindor colours and screaming for their respective teams. Ashton slowed as he came near the Slytherin stands and waved to Michael who was sitting their dressed in his unusual mix of both green and red. Michael gave him a thumbs up, though he could see the Slytherin girl next to him shooting him a strange look.

Ashton took his place up in the sky with Hannah and Carter on either side. He'd gotten to know them well now since they were team-mates. As the team’s chasers it was important that they worked as a team. The first whistle blew, and the game launched into action. All eyes were on the quaffle, bludgers and snitch as they rose into the air. The snitch disappeared quickly out of view. Ashton and his chaser team-mates eyes were on the quaffle. Hannah launched off first, zooming straight after it while Carter and Ashton trailed her hoping to ward off any Slytherin chasers that might try to follow her.

Sure, enough the Slytherin chasers were soon trailing them. Though Hannah was zooming in front of them all, she caught it in her arms before passing it onto Carter as they reached the goals. Carter shot it straight past the keeper and into the hoop. Excited cheers erupted around the stadium.

After that though it became Slytherin's game. Their chasers were ruthless, cutting them off at every available opportunity. The quaffle seemed to be jinxed to go through the Slytherin's goal. Ashton groaned, they were losing and fast.

Something needed to change and fast, and both of his fellow Chasers knew it as well. Hannah dove in front of the quaffle as two Slytherins attempted to pass it between one another. She passed it to Carter. As they neared the goal, he passed it to Ashton.

Ashton caught it easily. Yet he stared at the quaffle in shock for a moment as if he'd never held one in his hands before. He could see the flashes of green coming towards him like hungry vultures. He zoomed ahead of them giving himself a clear shot of the goal. He analysed the Keeper's movement, they tended to move a little too far to the left when the ball went that direction. He knew he could use that. He threw the Quaffle and watched as it went straight over the Slytherin Keeper's arm. Before soaring straight through the goal hoop.

The crowd erupted into cheers. Ashton was distracted though as he saw a flicker of golden up above. Ashton's eyes searched for Calum to point it out to him. Yet, Luke's eyes were the first on the snitch, he zoomed up high towards it. The crowd grew silent as Calum had spotted it as well, his position much closer than Luke's was. Though Ashton knew Luke was fast as well.

As the two of them soared towards the snitch, the cheers of support came from around them, as everyone encouraged their respective team's seeker to catch it. Luke and Calum crossed paths near where the snitch had last been seen.

For a moment no-one was sure who had caught it.

Then Calum raised his hands, the distinct golden glimmer of the snitch was in his hands. He grinned triumphantly down at the crowd below. In response the crowd erupted into cheers. Ashton realised quickly that they'd won the Quidditch House Cup. Forgetting his own goal, Ashton was the first to zoom over to him.

"We did it!" Ashton yelled.

Calum nodded, looking a little stunned himself. "We did, didn't we?"

The two of them high fived. Soon the rest of the team had surrounded them. Cheering, chanting and making a fuss. Soon Luke had broken through the crowd of broomsticks and smiled at him.

"Congratulations, it was a good game." Luke held his hand out to him, and the two shook hands grinning.

If Luke was disappointed, he didn't really show it. Calum and Luke rehashing the moment where they'd both seen the snitch and raced for it.

They zoomed around the pitch for a while after that, the entire team soaking up the glory that came with winning the years trophy. The cheers continued even once they’d returned to the change room below the stadium. The chorus of ''Go, go, Gryffindor' continued up above. No one on the team could wipe the grins from their faces, they’d won.

Will was standing in the doorway, dressed simply in his Gryffindor robes, a small pin supporting the team on his robes. Calum and Ashton both stiffened. Will had been actively avoiding Calum since he became team captain.

"You did well." Will acknowledged with a curt nod as he approached the two of them. "I'm sorry I was so harsh on you. I was a terrible captain."

"No, you weren't. Hopefully you'll come back and play for us next year." Calum nods.

Will shook his head, "No thanks, I think I prefer being a spectator for now."

They talked for a little while. Will commended Ashton in his playing but soon Will excused himself. Calum and Ashton watched him leave both feeling a little stunned. He'd been so over competitive but now he didn't even want to play.

Calum's eyes quickly flickered to Ashton.

"Ash, are you coming back to play next year?" Calum asked. "The team still needs a good Chaser."

"I might be interested." Ashton grinned at him.

It was then that both Luke and Michael agreed. Luke had already changed out of his Quidditch robes and into his usual one. He was so glad to see them, both Luke and Michael showered them with congratulations.

As they chatted like old friends. Ashton wondered without Kaidia whether all this would've happened. A few months ago, he wouldn't have expected to be friends with two Slytherins or learn that he could communicate with dragons. He probably wouldn’t have joined the Quidditch team either. Then they might not have won the years trophy. It was funny how things could change in such a short space of time.

Maybe going out late that night hadn't been the worst idea after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end! Thanks for coming with me on this crazy adventure. I wasn't sure when I started this story if I'd ever finish it but now I have. I hope that you've enjoyed it! ^^
> 
> I'm now starting to focus more on my next main story, Snowfire. I have the first chapter posted here already so please give it a read if you enjoyed this one. There's lots of magic and so on. :D


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